Legacy of the Light Hawk
by Chrisdz
Summary: Naruto learned far more than the Kage Bunshin on the night he stole the scroll. Now armed with the knowledge of his heritage Naruto will take the shinobi world and the universe by storm. A Naruto/Tenchi crossover. Naruxharem Lemons in later chapters
1. Legacy Revealed

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Chapter 1: Legacy Revealed

AN: Hello and welcome to my new fic. This is a Naruto/Tenchi crossover that takes place after the Tenchi OVA AND GXP series. In this Yosho and Airi had three daughters not just two.

Deep in the forest of Fire Country sat a village known all over as the strongest of the shinobi villages, Konohagakure. It is here in one of the many clearings of the forest surrounding the village that a young boy could be seen panting while looking over a large scroll. The boy was clad in a bright orange jumpsuit, had bright blonde hair and three whisker like markings on each cheek. His name is Uzumaki Naruto. It had barely been fifteen minutes since he'd arrived in the clearing after successfully stealing the scroll.

In that time he had managed to learn one of the many techniques from the scroll, the Kage Bunshin no jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique). Now as he sat panting he looked over the scroll quickly. He silently thanked the God's that he had thought to bring an empty scroll to copy down some of the techniques. He had already decided not to copy any of the techniques that were forbidden because of the damage they caused. The ones he was looking at however were forbidden because of the amount of chakra needed to perform them, something he had loads of.

He had already copied the information needed for a few of the techniques. One of them had just screamed 'COPY ME' to him as it was a jutsu created by the Yondaime Hokage himself. The other was a lightning technique that like Kage Bunshin required a massive amount of chakra to perform.

Coming to the final techniques Naruto became appalled by some of the things he read through. It was the final section however that stopped him in his tracks, the technique not even registering to his shocked mind. Before it even came to the technique he saw the kanji for his name in large black ink. Under this was a small seal which he knew as a blood seal. This was only because he never slept through anything dealing with seals in the academy as seals just fascinated him.

Cutting his thumb with a kunai he quickly spread the blood over the seal. There was a puff of smoke and when it cleared there was a bracer sitting in the spot the seal had been. The bracer was silver in color and had designs of trees and plants all over it connecting to a bright blue jewel of some kind.

Picking it up he quickly rolled the scroll up before putting the bracer on his right arm and quickly snapping it shut stunned when it seemed to just form to his arm. Suddenly the bracer began to hum as the jewel began to pulse quickly getting to the point were it looked as if it wasn't even pulsing at all due to the speed as the humming got louder and louder. So engrossed in watching this he didn't notice that the jewel slowed to match his own heart beat. Suddenly a beam of pure light shot into his forehead and his eyes glazed over.

_Interfacing with key complete…_

_Dissecting genetic signature…_

_Dissection complete…_

_Checking against data previously stored…_

_Identity Confirmed…_

_Genetic signature registered…_

_Sending distress beacon and general announcement to home base…_

_Creating mental link…_

_Mental link complete…_

_Connecting consciousness to Yosho-oh…_

_Connection complete…_

_Transporting…_

Suddenly the light faded and shut off the boy falling over unconscious.

Elsewhere at the same time Sarutobi Kaien, the Sandaime Hokage renowned worldwide as the infamous 'Kami no Shinobi' groaned as he rose from his spot on the floor. As he picked himself up he blinked surprised at the amount of blood that covered the front of his robes. Suddenly the memories of tonight's events hit him and he quickly spiked his chakra signaling his ANBU within the tower.

"Hai Hokage-sama" came the voices of the five ANBU in sync with each other.

"Naruto has stolen the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. Have all Chuunin in the village report here immediately." Ordered the old man getting nods from his ANBU who proceeded to do as commanded.

Fifteen minutes later Sarutobi had dismissed the gathered and irate shinobi who quickly proceeded to do as ordered. Finding and returning Naruto to him unharmed. Sarutobi while old was far from senile and had never been considered a foolish person, hell he had even been nicknamed 'The Professor' for the amount of knowledge he'd gained over his lifetime.

With that said he knew without a shadow of a doubt that somebody had set Naruto up, most likely to take the scroll for themselves using the boy as a scapegoat. With that thought in mind he pulled his trusty crystal ball from his bottom draw he flew through a quick series of seals before whispering the name of his technique and placing his hands around the ball.

"Toomegane no jutsu (Telescope technique)."

'_This should be easy enough. Naruto's chakra signature stands out from everyone else's in the village. Still why is it that Naruto's chakra signature seems to be so aligned with nature?_' thought Sarutobi with a thoughtful frown on his aged face.

Finally Sarutobi found the boy oddly enough sleeping up against a tree. Still the boy's chakra level was so low that it had taken several minutes to find the boy. Breathing a sigh of relief he sent a squad of ANBU to retrieve both Naruto and the scroll and bring them to him.

Naruto groaned as he awoke the sun irritating him to no end. Suddenly he froze there shouldn't be any sun it was the middle of the night last time he checked. Sitting up and taking in his surroundings he gasped in awe at the sight before him. He was in a large grassy plain that stretched as far as his eyes could see.

He had been lying in rich green grass which extended outwards in every direction with large tress scattered everywhere around him. The sound of rushing water quickly caught his attention causing him to turn finding a large waterfall behind him with fish swimming in the waters below. Looking around he found some of the places had stone walkways instead of grass.

"Beautiful isn't it." Spoke a soft voice from behind him.

Twisting around towards the voice he gasped softly at the woman that stood before him. She had long black hair that was pulled back in a high ponytail that stopped at her waist. She wore a white kimono that was adorned with Sakura petals and had a pair of large brown eyes similar to his own blue ones. For some reason just the mere sight of her relaxed him immensely.

"Who are you and where are we?" Asked the boy softly as the woman sat down beside him.

"I am Yosho-Oh a Juraian war cruiser belonging to your mother Lady Masaki Achika Jurai. As to our location we are inside of myself." Said the woman quietly getting a confused look from the blonde.

"What do you mean?" questioned the boy.

"The Yosho-Oh is a Second Generation Juraian Treeship which had been bonded with your mother. Using the key you now possess I have separated your conscious mind from your body in order to bring you, Lord Masaki Naruto, into a subspace aboard the Yosho-Oh. Unfortunately due to several complications I could not transport your body here. I have also taken on the form of your mother in order to better communicate with you. " Explained the woman.

"Okay you've got the wrong guy. My name's Uzumaki not Masaki." Stated the blonde.

"If you believe me incorrect then you are mistaken. You are the son of Masaki Achika and Namikaze Minato, the Yosho-Oh has confirmed this before bringing you here. Your father's DNA while Juraian was not in the registry. Before bringing you however his genetic code was separated from that of your mothers in order to register it. I have also released the seals containing your abilities so that you may learn to control them." Stated Yosho-Oh.

"Ok I have no idea who or what you're talking about." said the boy his face a mask of confusion. Seeing this the woman sighed before lying the boys head in her lap and stroking his cheek absentmindedly

"I see that you have not yet been made aware of your heritage. As such I shall now inform you. Your mother was Masaki Achika one of three children born to Prince Masaki Yosho Jurai and Lady Masaki Airi. She was born on the planet called Earth which is located on the eastern edge of Jurai controlled space.

One day we ventured out into space as she wanted to explore. We were attacked and I was badly damaged before we crash landed on this planet on the western edge of the Jurai controlled space. As procedure dictates she was placed into a state of suspended animation and protected. Luckily we survived the crash though we were effectively stranded as my systems were damaged beyond repair. That was approximately one hundred years ago.

When she awoke however she grew intrigued with this world and the abilities its people possessed and decided to check things out. She took on the disguise of a young red haired girl by the name of Kushina. After which she was found and taken to Uzu no Kuni where she studied to become what they called a kunoichi and stayed there until the countries destruction during the previous war." She paused here to look down on the boy who she noticed was captivated with the story.

"As a service to the village that she had called home she began to call herself Uzumaki Kushina. It was after this that she traveled to Konoha with other survivors from Uzu no Kuni and met a young boy who would grow to become a great man, named Namikaze Minato, whose looks you seem to have inherited.

Minato was what they called a genius shinobi attaining the title of gennin at the age of ten. He was then placed on a team led by Jiraiya a member of the team known as The Legendary Sannin. He would become known world-wide as Konoha's Yellow Flash and eventually it's Yondaime Hokage. That is all the information I have access to in regards of your parents meeting." She finished getting a frown from the boy. After a few minutes of silence Naruto spoke up once more.

"If what you say is true I know my father is dead but what of my mother?" asked the blonde quietly.

"Masaki Achika fell in battle one week after your birth alongside your father. Shall I explain?"

"Yes, please." Said the boy in a pleading tone.

"One week after your birth tragedy struck in the form of a nine tailed fox. According to my records your parent's original plan had been to seal the fox within you. Thankfully Tsunami-sama was with you that day and must have intervened on your behalf. Both of your parents went to battle with full knowledge that they would die. Your father because the technique he would use, the 'Shiki Fuujin' was a technique that took the life of its caster. Your mother because she had not yet recovered from childbirth and knew the strain of what she would do could and most likely would kill her.

Since you would be needed they took you with them to the battle and things went as planned, mostly. Your mother had managed to contain the fox in a stasis field during which time your father used his technique to separate the fox's soul and power from its body. It was only after this that things changed from what they planned. They had managed to get the beast soul mostly free before it managed to scratch you on each of your cheeks." Naruto went wide eyed at this before rubbing the markings along his cheeks.

"The pain of this awoke you and you responded in kind to the threat. I am unsure of the truth of what happened but it is logical to assume that Tsunami-sama intervened and acted through you. I say this because you unleashed a power that not only destroyed the fox's body but stripped it of half of its power. It is because of this that the fox was destroyed and Minato was able to dispose of it without sealing it inside you." Finished Yosho-oh getting wide eyes from the boy.

"You've mentioned the name Tsunami several times who is she?" asked the boy after much silence.

"Tsunami-sama is the Goddess of Jurai and the protector of the royal family otherwise known as Clan Masaki. She is also what you would call the mother to all of Jurai's royal trees and the source of our power." Stated Yosho-oh.

"If you would like I can download all you would need knowledge of directly into your mind due to the mental link I've set up. Your mother believed it would be for the best for you to have this knowledge before your family arrived." Stated Yosho-oh.

"What do you mean before my family arrives?" questioned the boy with a frown.

"Before her death Lady Achika arranged it so that once your identity was confirmed by the key a distress beacon and general announcement would be sent to Jurai. Until this time however I will teach you how to use your abilities." Explained Yosho-oh.

Naruto groaned hearing this as he honestly couldn't understand what the hell she said half the time. Still even he knew what the words she just said had meant. After a few minutes of silence during which he thought things out he consented allowing her to download the needed knowledge.

When Iruka stumbled onto the clearing the sight the greeted him made him freeze in fear. For there just in front of him was Naruto sitting _quietly_. After checking the area for at least double layered traps he breathed a sigh of relief before making his way into the clearing in a way only he could.

"IDIOT. WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING STEALING THAT SCROLL." Roared Iruka.

As he settled down and caught his breath he paused. He had expected Naruto to freak out and jump in fear, instead all he did was raise an eyebrow with a curious look on his face. After a few moments of silence Naruto did yet another thing unexpected of him, he scowled and Iruka honestly believed the apocalypse was near.

"Judging by your entrance and your previous words, I assume that you had no knowledge of any secret gennin exam." Said the blonde calmly.

"What are you talking about, there's no such thing." Said Iruka confusedly getting a sigh from the blonde.

"I thought so. Now when Mizuki gets here I'M GONNA BREAK HIM IN SO MANY PIECES NOT EVEN TSUNADE WITH AID FROM EVERY MEDIC IN THE WORLD WILL BE ABLE TO PUT HIM BACK TOGETHER AGAIN." Raged the blonde as a flame seemed to light up within his eyes before he coughed and seemingly composed himself.

Iruka sweat dropped at the sight before diving in front of his blonde student as a whistling sound hit his ears. The sound of the weapon being deflected forced him to open his eyes and turn just in time to see a giant shuriken fall to the ground as what looked like a chakra shield faded away.

"You do know its impolite to throw your toys when people are having a conversation." Said Naruto calmly as if speaking to a child as he stood next to Iruka.

"H-how?" gasped a stunned Mizuki from his perch in the trees.

"Well thanks to your lateness I was able to learn two jutsu's from the scroll and one of my family techniques. That energy shield was the family technique." Stated the blonde calmly.

Both chuunin had wide eyes upon hearing the blonde's words. Just learning a single technique in that time would have been remarkable but to claim learning three, two of which from the scroll was just incredible. Breaking out of his shock Mizuki suddenly gained a wicked gleam in his eyes before he spoke.

"Ne, Naruto do you know why everyone hates you." Said Mizuki with a smirk.

"Mizuki you know its forbidden." Yelled Iruka only to be ignored by the silver haired chuunin.

"Humor me." Said Naruto calmly.

"It's because you're a monster. Contrary to what you were told Yondaime didn't kill the Kyuubi twelve years ago. It was too strong so he sealed it into a newborn baby. You are that baby Naruto YOU ARE THE KYUUBI NO KITSUNE." Finished Mizuki eyes closed and laughing maniacally.

After about a minute however he stopped when he realized he hadn't gotten a response. Iruka, who had also closed his eyes, opened them and turned to the blonde as well to find him rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"If that's what everyone believes than their as foolish as they think I am. But since you obviously don't know pay attention, you'll only hear this once before you die." Said the blonde evenly.

"The truth is that my father did indeed plan on sealing Kyuubi inside of me since yes it was to strong for most to kill. Unfortunately for the fox it had never come across someone of my bloodline. Otherwise it would've known how utterly foolish a mistake it is to challenge us, but I digress.

When my father tried to seal the fox in me, it of course resisted resulting in the scars on my face. Still it was enough to awaken me and inform me of the danger I was in. I am unsure of the exact details of what happened though my mother believed that my family's guardian protector, the Goddess Tsunami intervened on our behalf. What ever the case I know that whatever happened destroyed the fox's body completely striping it of at least half of its power as a result. Because of this the affects of my father's jutsu were able to work the way originally intended and allowed the Shinigami to devour the bastard fox's soul.

And before you even mention that seal that was only due to the fact that my mother was forced to seal away my abilities since whatever happened nearly killed me due to the strain placed on my body." Finished the boy calmly getting shocked looks from both chuunin as well as Sarutobi who was watching on his crystal ball.

The silence was broken as a pained cry ripped from Mizuki's throat before he fell forward off the tree. As he did Iruka looked up to find another Naruto standing where Mizuki had been before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Looking down towards Mizuki, Iruka was stunned to find a kunai lodged into the back of the mans throat and knew immediately he was dead.

"Naruto how did you…" started Iruka only for his voice to fade off.

"During his little rant I created a Kage Bunshin while you guys had your eyes closed. After that I used my own speech in order to by the time needed for the clone to position itself behind him while he was too stunned to realize anything.

Whether this was due to my claim of being the Yondaime's son or what really happened to the fox I don't care I just needed him too stunned to pay attention. Once this was done and my clone was in place I ended my speech allowing the clone to end Mizuki, though I think sticking an explosive note or three to his back would've been better than just the kunai." Said the blonde with a shrug.

"Close your eyes for a second." Said Iruka suddenly. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the odd request but did as instructed.

"Okay you can open them." Said Iruka about a minute later.

Once he did the blondes eyebrow raised once more at seeing Iruka with his hitae-tae missing. Eyes widening he reached up to his own forehead and felt the cool sensation of metal beneath his fingers.

"Congratulations you graduate." Said Iruka smiling when he got a loud cheer from the blonde who then blushed before coughing into his hand once more and trying to regain his composure.

This was the scene the ANBU saw when they made their presence known. They had of course been present when Iruka arrived and had decided to stay put after hearing Naruto's words about Mizuki. They had even moved to interfere after Mizuki's speech but had been frozen by Naruto's own.

"Good work Uzumaki." Said the captain who wore the mask of a tiger.

"If you keep performing like this I'll have you in ANBU once you make chuunin. You may even become as good as Umino-san is." Finished the man getting a nod and blush from Naruto and Iruka respectively.

"Hokage-sama wishes to meet with you so we'll escort you. Neko grab the scroll." Said Tora getting an informative nod from the cat masked ANBU before they headed out.

Elsewhere five people sat around a table frowning. Of these people however only one was male. These people were Masaki Azusa Jurai, his first mate Masaki Funaho Jurai, his second mate Masaki Misaki Jurai, her mother Kimiki Seto Jurai and lastly Masaki Airi. These people were members of Jurai's Royal Family, clan Masaki.

In front of these people sat several identical stacks of paper. As he reread through the papers Azusa couldn't help but frown at the contents. His granddaughter who had been missing for nearly a century had been under his nose the entire time stranded on some small planet at the edge of his space. On top of that she's been dead for twelve years and they'd only been made aware of this due to her son stumbling across her ships key.

Across from him he could see his daughter in law struggling to hold in her tears at this news. He didn't blame her though, in the last two decades she'd lost two of her daughters and only a few years apart from each other.

"You should all head to Earth and inform Yosho of this. This is the type of news one needs to hear in person. Also inform them that I'd like them to accompany us when we go to retrieve young Naruto." Said Azusa getting nods from the somber group of females surrounding him.

"Airi-san, Seto-dono it would be appreciated if one of you could have Seina return to Jurai immediately as well. I wish for him to accompany us as well." Said Azusa getting nods once more before everyone left the room.

As they left Azusa sighed as Seto supported Airi and Misaki supported Funaho. As he left to his room the man was intending on raiding his private bar as thoughts of his two lost granddaughters, the twins Kiyone and Achika swam through his mind.


	2. Meetings

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Chapter 2: Meetings

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or Tenchi. If I owned Naruto the manga wouldn't be such a mess right now.

AN: Yo it's been a while. Firstly thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. The manga is still turning out to be a major disappointment though it will hopefully be salvageable. This is a harem so here is how it looks so far.

Hinata

Yuugao

Sasami

Mayuka

Those four are defiantly in. for those not familiar Mayuka is Tenchi's daughter from Tenchi the Movie 2. I still need more females though older ones I'm just at a loss as to who they should be. Anyway here's the chapter.

Start Now:

The journey to the tower had been made in silence. As they moved everyone was lost in their own thoughts going over the events of the night. For the ANBU and Iruka it was the confrontation between Naruto and Mizuki that was traveling through their minds. For Naruto however his thoughts were on the fact that he had finally after over a decade of wondering learned the secret of his heritage. Well at least he knew of his mother's side, he could find out more about his father just as soon as he could speak with Sarutobi-jiji.

As he moved however Naruto was trying his hardest not to think about the fact that he had actually killed someone. Even if he hadn't done it with his own hands he had still gotten the clones memory of the deed and it left a sour taste in his mouth. Unfortunately for the blonde he was no longer able to maintain his composure and faster than Iruka could blink he had bolted off to the side and into the alley beneath them.

None of the other shinobi needed to think to know why the boy had taken off just as soon as they heard the sound of his retching. Of course it was only then that Iruka realized that Naruto had just had his first kill as he moved to console the boy who was currently hurling up his lunch while shaking uncontrollably. After a few minutes Naruto with help from Iruka was able to regain control of himself as his shaking and retching ceased.

Having jumped down after Iruka the captain of the ANBU squad sighed quietly behind his tiger mask. He had been wondering when the kid would react to his actions in the forest. Still he was surprised that not a single tear or sob left the boy while he tried to collect himself. He knew from experience the first kill was always the hardest to get over, hell it was the reason some shinobi and kunoichi quit so early as they are unable to cope with having killed someone the first time.

Standing to his feet, having fallen to his knees, the blonde wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket. Almost as soon as he did however a disgusted look crossed his face before he removed the offending article and dropped it to the ground. Then with a glance and a thankful nod to Iruka the blonde hopped back up to the rooftop to continue the journey.

When they arrived within the tower Naruto was surprised when instead of being taken to the Hokage's office he along with Iruka were ushered into a room one floor underneath the man's office. As he glanced back he found that each of the ANBU members were standing behind him blocking the door. A gasp from Iruka caused him to snap his attention back to the front of the room.

In front of him sat ten people six of them Iruka recognized as the heads of Konoha's most influential clans and Konoha's most respected jounin. Three of them were elders; two were Sandaime's former teammates and his current advisors while the other was once a favorite for the position of Sandaime. Finally was the Sandaime himself seated in the center of them all. This Iruka realized as he began to sweat was the Shinobi Council.

As he looked over the seated individuals Naruto recognized them instantly and his eyes narrowed in anger. Hyuga Hiashi, Aburame Shibi, Inuzuka Tsume, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Chouza, and Yamanaka Inoichi, each of them the parent of one of his classmates. Of course he only knew some of them because he could remember them telling their children to stay away from him. Deciding to break the silence that had descended upon the room Sarutobi cleared his throat effectively gaining the attention of all in the room.

"What you did tonight was both reckless and dangerous Naruto-kun. That scroll you took has jutsu sealed inside of it that could very well destroy an entire village." said Sarutobi getting a nod from the boy who had read through the scroll.

"However it must also be conceded that you held no knowledge of the scrolls existence much less its contents prior to Mizuki informing you of it. On top of this you can not be faulted for putting your trust in the words of your sensei that should have had your best interest at heart." Stated Aburame Shibi in his clan's usual monotone.

"I must also admit that you showed a surprising amount of stealth and skill to have been able to steal the scroll in the first place. On top of this you were only caught by chance and thanks to your rather…unique jutsu were able to escape me without problem gaining yourself a fifteen minute head start." Finished Sarutobi with a blush as the boy began to snicker.

"Because of these facts this council has agreed with your sensei's decision to graduate you to gennin." Stated Hiashi getting a large grin from the boy only to cut him off before he could begin to celebrate.

"Unfortunately it seems none of these facts about you were placed in your academy profile in fact it states you failed every test they threw at you. Now however you have to be re-evaluated in case your teachers were purposely failing you." Stated Akimichi Choji getting a groan from the boy.

"Iruka will be overseeing your re-evaluation which will take place tomorrow at 8 am at the academy. Of course this is just for records sake as you've already graduated we just need to know for the records and so that we can better place you for your gennin team" explained Sarutobi getting a nod from the boy.

"Now there are a few more things that need to be straightened out about your confrontation with Mizuki." Stated Sarutobi.

What followed was Naruto once again explaining what he knew concerning the truth of Kyuubi's fate and why there had been a seal on his stomach. He'd even gone so far as to show them his stomach which was now seal free much to the shock of the gathered council members. Of course when asked about how he'd found out these things he simply said when the seal broke he gained the knowledge. When everything was said and done he was dismissed though only after being told to report to the Academy the next morning for his re-evaluation. Turning to leave the boy was halted by the voice of his surrogate grandfather.

"Naruto as far as the events of tonight are concerned I'll be marking this down as a completed A-rank mission and you'll be paid as such. Come see me tomorrow after your evaluation and I'll have your payment ready for you." Stated Sarutobi getting a smile large grin from the boy.

"Ne jiji you think you can get me a better place and some new clothes and gear. I'd do it myself but until this whole Kyuubi thing is straightened out I still won't be allowed in any stores." Stated the blonde getting a scowl from several of the gathered council members and a nod from Sarutobi before leaving the room.

Once the boy had left the council members could only stare at each other in a stunned silence as the realization of how much they had screwed up hit home. Sarutobi however couldn't help but smile at the irony of the situation as the story they'd made up about the Yondaime killing Kyuubi was more than true with the exception that he'd had help from his family.

As he arrived at his apartment the blonde sighed quietly as he stripped off his clothing leaving a trail to the bed. As he hit his bed wearing only his boxers and his new bracer, no Yosho-oh's key he corrected, he felt all of the stress of the day hit him as he suddenly found all of his usual energy gone. He'd barely even had time to crawl under the sheet on his bed before sleep had claimed him.

One Week Later:

Naruto looked over the village with a small smile from atop the Hokage Monument. The past week had been the best in the blonde's life. With the news circulating through the village about Kyuubi's true fate he'd been on the receiving end of very few glares from the villagers. He'd gotten a new apartment that was far better than his previous one. Sarutobi had stated he couldn't have his inheritance until he turned sixteen.

The new apartment had two bedrooms and a bathroom with a large living room and a kitchen area. The living room only held two couches and a reclining chair along with a large television. His kitchen contained an electric stove and oven as well as one of those ice dispensing refrigerators. On the side of the sink was a water dispenser but this one was a newer type. Instead of using a bottle this was hooked into the pipes and purified the water that went through it. The best part all of it worked perfectly.

Of the two rooms one of them acted as a bedroom and the other was a study. The study contained a desk and a very relaxing chair. Bookshelves lined the walls filled with books provided by the Sandaime. His bedroom however held a nice king sized bed and his new wardrobe all of it provided by the Sandaime. Naruto smiled at the thought even though he'd already forgiven the old man he was still trying to make up for his mistake.

On top of this he'd managed to do great during his re-evaluation. He'd gotten perfect scores on his shuriken and kunai throwing and on the stealth course. The jutsu portion had been a breeze as well though he still couldn't make a regular Bunshin. Iruka had stated this was just because his chakra reserves were so large and he didn't have enough control over his chakra.

After that had come what Naruto had initially feared the written portion. Thankfully however he had gotten Yosho-oh to download everything she had collected on shinobi into his mind while he had slept. The test had been rather long taking a little over two hours for him to complete with him only missing three questions total completely shattering his reputation as an idiot.

The rest of the week he had spent training deep in the forest. Contrary to what Naruto had told Iruka and Mizuki that night he had not learned three jutsu's that night. Sure he managed to learn two from the scroll the energy shield however hadn't been activated by him, consciously at least. According to Yosho-oh he had subconsciously called up that shield by using the key. According to his mother since the key belonged to his mother he was able to use it, just not to the extent that his mother had been able to.

As such he'd spent the week trying to learn how to use the key. With the use of a couple (hundred) Kage Bunshin he was able to learn how to create the shield. He'd also discovered that the key could also form a blade of pure energy. When he'd first done it he had actually sliced through a thick tree branch like it was melted butter. Unfortunately after that he hadn't been able to form the blade at all, damn key was being stubborn.

Other than that Yosho-oh had taught him only one thing more. That was how to create and apply gravity and cushioning seals. Gravity seals are seals which increase the gravity around an object. Cushioning seals were simply seals used so that it doesn't seem like that object has an increased gravity surrounding it. Apparently these seals were created by the Juraian royal family and used to increase their speed.

Shaking the thoughts from his head and standing to his feet the boy took one more look at the village beneath him before leaving. As he moved through the village he found himself on the receiving end of stares from just about everyone he passed. This stare however contained none of the hatred, anger, or resentment he was used to. In fact as he looked at the older people he found each of them were sending shocked looks in his direction.

What really got him were the actions of the females in the area. Girls from age eight to adult women everywhere he passed, even kunoichi had been looking in his direction and giggling and it was honestly confusing him. Now he may have gotten an increase in knowledge from Yosho-oh but that did nothing to help his lack of social skills.

'_Wait a minute._' Thought the blonde as he suddenly stopped in the middle of the road.

'_I've only ever seen girls at like this around the teme, but he's nowhere… around here_.' Thought the blonde as he looked all around him just to make sure that the teme wasn't around him.

Suddenly his instincts honed from years of being put into dangerous situations screamed at him. Without warning the blonde was off and racing across rooftops. It had taken half a second but the female half reacted and the chase was on the kunoichi taking to the rooftops and civilians the streets.

After a few minutes he jumped into an ally. As the girls neared they all squealed loudly as they saw both Naruto and Sasuke bolt from the ally and split going in totally opposite directions. Reacting instantly the girls chased going after the one they wanted more half of each set going after a different boy. After a few minutes of silence there was a puff of smoke as a trashcan within the ally was changed into a smirking Naruto.

As he had dropped into the ally he had created two Kage Bunshin's putting one in a henge to look like Sasuke. After this he himself had henge'd into a trashcan just as he hit the ground and the clones bolted from within the ally. Emerging from the ally with his hands in his pockets the blonde made his way to the academy.

Thankfully the academy was only open to the graduates today as such his arrival went unnoticed since the school was virtually empty. As he walked through the empty halls he couldn't help but grin at the thought of never having to step into this building again. Finally reaching his destination he stopped to slide the door open before walking inside immediately bringing a hush to the room.

* * *

Hyuga Hinata sighed as she listened to the bickering between Yamanaka Ino and her former best friend and so called rival Haruno Sakura. She was happy this would be the last time she'd have to deal with this pair and their constant bickering over the Uchiha heir; honestly she saw nothing in him worth fighting over. Still she was slightly sad that her crush wasn't here confirming the rumor that he'd failed the exam. Such thoughts were abruptly halted as the door to the class slid open and her breath caught in her throat.

Standing in the doorway was Naruto, but he was different. Gone were the orange monstrosity that was his jumpsuit and the green goggles, which she had secretly bought him as a birthday present several years back. In their place was a completely new outfit.

The boy now wore a pair of black pants with bandages wrapped around the ends leading down to a pair of black shinobi sandals. His shirt was also black and had sleeves made of fishnet that went to just past his elbow. He wore two silver bracers one on each arm the right one had designs of trees all over it that connected up to a bright blue jewel of some sort. The bracer on his left arm was normal as the only decoration on it was the leaf symbol just like the one on her hitae-tae.

On his forehead was a Konoha hitae-tae a black cloth replacing the standard blue. His hair was also different as it was no longer clumped together like bed hair and was separated into several smaller spikes that fell around his head. He had also grown a few inches over the week in fact he appeared to be her height now.

'_Naruto got hott._' Were the thoughts of all the girls in the room at that time.

* * *

Before anything could be said however the door opened once more as Iruka stepped in. as he did he froze as he caught sight of Naruto in his new outfit. If he hadn't believed it before Iruka knew now without a shadow of a doubt that Naruto was the son of the Yondaime Hokage, he looked like a younger version of the man with the sole difference being the markings on his face.

"Naruto take a seat." Said Iruka quickly overcoming his shock.

Taking a quick look around and not seeing any other seats, or good seats, the blonde moved and took a seat in one of the upper rows bypassing the still gawking Ino and Sakura and took a seat right next to Hinata whose face quickly lit up with a blush. .

"Okay before we begin I'll announce the class rankings." Stated Iruka catching the attention of the class.

Naruto barely listened to what followed but was still surprised in the end. He had obviously done very well in his re-evaluation. He'd gotten 1st place in the targeting, stealth and ninjutsu exams followed by Sasuke in 2nd. He'd even placed 2nd in the written in the exam just under Sakura.

"As it stands Uchiha Sasuke is the rookie of the year. Uzumaki Naruto is this year's runner up. This years top Kunoichi is Hyuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino is the runner up." Stated Iruka surprising the entire class.

For most it was because Naruto who was supposed to be the weakest of their class was the second best. Even the ever lazy Shikamaru had sat up in interest at this turn of events while Choji had nearly dropped the bag of chips he was eating. With that said Iruka then launched into a speech about how their lives would only get harder from this point on. Naruto however completely ignored the speech having heard it the night of his re-evaluation.

"Now with that said I'll now tell you of your assigned teams. Each of the teams will have a certain purpose though what it is you won't know until your assigned sensei tells you. Team One…" started Iruka only to be ignored for the most part from that point on as people only listened for their names.

'_What the hell did he mean teams. Others will only hold me back._' Thought Uchiha Sasuke as the scowl on his face deepened.

'_Troublesome, I hope I'm with Choji_.' Thought Shikamaru as he put his head upon the desk.

'…' thought Shino

'_I hope I'm with Naruto-kun._' thought Hinata with a blush.

'_I hope I get Sasuke-kun or Naruto or maybe both. Kami their hott_.' thought Ino squealing inwardly.

'_These chips are really good_.' Thought Choji as he continued to happily munch on his snack.

'_Please be Hinata_.' Thought Kiba nearly drooling at the thought of her.

'_Please not the teme. Anyone but Sasuke-teme_.' Thought Naruto. While Sakura also had thought's the author refuses to venture into her mind for fear of what he'd find.

"Team Seven, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke." Said Iruka.

"HA take that Ino-pig." Said Sakura as she stood up giving a peace sign towards the blonde girl.

"Damn it." muttered Naruto, Ino, Hinata and Sasuke in a surprising unison.

"Team Eight, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino. Team Ten, Yamanaka Ino, Nara, Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji." Said Iruka.

Once he was finished reading off the teams he dismissed them for lunch telling them to meet up in one hour.

* * *

A silver haired man looked around the apartment with a critical eye. He wore the standard jounin uniform but had his hitae-tae slanted to cover one of his eyes. He wore a pair of blue fingerless gloves with metal plates covering the hand, a leaf symbol etched into the center of the metal.

"So what do you think Kakashi." Asked Sarutobi as he looked over towards the man before taking a puff from his pipe.

"I'm surprised. For a young boy living here alone this place is remarkably clean." Said the newly named Kakashi as he wandered into one of the other rooms.

"So why did you move him in here of all places?" Asked Kakashi as he looked at the scrolls which sat upon the boy's desk.

Sarutobi sighed at that. Kakashi was one of the few who knew that this used to be the Yondaime's apartment. In fact he and his wife had lived here until they died during the Kyuubi attack.

"I won't lie to you Kakashi there is a reason that I placed him on your team." Said Sarutobi catching the man's attention.

"The fact of the matter is that at the moment you are the only one who can teach him. You're the best ninjutsu user I have and the only one who can teach him the style of taijutsu he needs to know. After all you did copy it from his father." Stated Sarutobi getting the man to freeze.

"Are you telling me that he's…" started Kakashi only to cut himself off not able to bring himself to say the words.

"Yes Naruto is the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. You as his father's sole living student are the only one aside from Jiraiya who could teach him what he needs to know." Stated Sarutobi much to Kakashi's shock.

"While Naruto is aware of this information he also knows to keep it to himself at the moment. I don't have to tell you what would happen should certain factions discover this." Stated Sarutobi getting a nod from the man.

Kakashi was all too aware of what could happen should this information be revealed. He'd have both Iwa and Kumo after his head in no time. There were also certain members of the village that would be out to get the boy. In his time as Hokage his sensei had managed to get on the bad side of several people for changing the way things were being ran. Whatever the case Naruto was the closest thing the masked man had for family now and he would be sure to keep him safe.

* * *

Naruto was bored. The break had long since been over and all that remained in the room was him and his teammates. He'd eaten launch with Hinata having asked her when he saw the shy girl going off on her own. The had gone to Ichiraku's where he'd introduced her before trying to work the girl out of her shell and devour his ramen at the same time. Unfortunately it seemed that the lesson on manners installed into him by Yosho-oh were hard to bypass so he was stuck eating at a normal pace. As such he'd only been able to eat three bowls of the stuff.

Thankfully by the time they had made it back the girl wasn't stuttering as much as before. Though she was still speaking far too low for his liking it was a start. In the end he found the girl was actually really nice and not the dark and weird girl he'd originally taken her for. That however was three hours ago and now he was utterly and totally bored, never a good thing.

"What to do, what to do what to do." Mumbled the blonde as he looked around the room.

Before he could come up with a solution for his boredom however the door opened. As the jounin looked around his single eye widened at the sight of his blonde student who looked far too much like his father though his eyes while shaped like his mothers were blue like his father.

"Alright my first impression of you is…your boring." Stated Kakashi with an eye smile causing the gathered gennin to face fault.

"Meet me on the roof." Said the man before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

When the three arrived on the roof they found the man sitting on a rail with his nose buried in a small orange book. Once they were seated the book was snapped shut as the jounin spoke.

"Okay you guys lets begin with introductions. Tell me your likes, dislikes and dreams for the future." Said the jounin just before seeing his pink haired students hand shoot up causing him to inwardly groan.

"Ano sensei why don't you go first so we know what to do." Said the girl a bit timidly.

As Naruto heard that he couldn't help but wonder what he ever saw in the girl. She was shallow, violent and apparently lacked common sense. He shuddered as he realized that if not for Yosho-oh he'd probably still be hung up over her instead of looking at other, better girls.

"Ok my name is Hatake Kakashi I don't feel like telling you my likes or dislikes. Dreams for the future…I have a few hobbies." Said the man before giving an eye smile at the group.

"All we learned was his name." said Sakura presenting her power to state the obvious to the group.

"How about you pinky." Said Kakashi getting a glare from the girl.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like (glances at Sasuke and blushes). My dream (glances at Sasuke and squeals)."

In unison all three males sighed at the antics of the fangirl that had been placed on their team.

"And your dislikes." Said Kakashi wearily.

"INO-PIG." Screamed Sakura as a fire seemed to appear in her eyes.

"Riiigghttt. Ok broody-chan your turn." Said Kakashi pointing towards Sasuke causing Naruto to snicker and Sasuke to glare at the man.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have no like and dislike a lot of things. My dream no my ambition is to revive my clan as well as kill a certain man." Said the boy before going back to his brooding.

'_Just as I thought an avenger._" Thought Kakashi with a sigh.

"Alright Blondie your up." Said Kakashi.

"My name's Naruto. My likes are training, ramen, and pulling pranks. My dislikes are arrogant bastards, fangirls, emo's and people who judge others before getting to know that person. My dream is to one day become Hokage and gain what that bastard fox stole from me, a family." Stated the blonde though he finished the last bit in a low voice getting a sigh from Kakashi.

'Alright I got a fangirl, an avenger, and chibi-Minato.' Thought Kakashi with a inner smile at the last bit.

"Alright here's the deal. you will meet me at 6 am tomorrow at training ground number seven for your gennin exam." stated Kakashi lazily.

"WHAT but we already passed the gennin exam that's why we have hitae-tae's." said Sakura getting a chuckle from the jounin.

"Is that what you think. Sorry to tell you this but that exam was just to see if you had the skill required to be a gennin. The exam given by the jounin however is to see if you deserve to be one. These test have a failure rating of 66.6 percent, meaning of the 27 so called graduates only 9 will actually become gennin's." Explained Kakashi getting wide eyes from the group.

"Oh and I'd suggest not eating breakfast. Otherwise you'll just puke it up."

With that said the silver haired jounin disappeared in a puff of smoke. After a few minutes Sasuke got up breaking the silence with a few simple words.

"Don't hold me back."

However as soon as he said it he realized Sakura was the only one there. Naruto had apparently already left without a word to them. From his perch in a nearby tree Kakashi chuckled at the sight, this just might get interesting.

AN: That's it chapters done. For all those wondering then YES I am using my omnipotent power as the writer to NOT make Kakashi an ass. Thanks for reading and please review. Till next time Later.


	3. Kakashi's Test

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Chapter 3: Kakashi's Test

AN: Yo it's been a while. I don't really have much to say as it's early in the damn morning. Don't ask about pairings though because I'm still not sure about all the harem members. Anyway here's the chapter.

Start Now

Naruto awoke with a groan. He'd never been a morning person as he'd rather sleep in than wake up early, hence why he was always late for the academy. As such 5 a.m. was definitely not a time when he should be awake. Still forcing himself up and out of the cloud of comfort that was his bed he made his way to the shower.

After his morning rituals were over and he was dressed he made himself a quick sandwich ignoring Kakashi's suggestion of skipping breakfast. After all how was he supposed to take a test on an empty stomach? Breakfast in hand he quickly left the apartment roof hopping towards the training ground.

He landed silently and after a quick look around the training grounds he sat back against a tree. He of course had noticed his teammates but lacked the energy needed to deal with them so early in the morning.

"YOU'RE LATE."

The shrill scream awoke him with a jolt. Looking around with blurry eyes he found Sakura pointing an accusing finger at a nonchalant looking Kakashi. Apparently he and Sasuke had had the same idea as he noticed the emo was blinking rapidly most likely trying to clear the sleep from his eyes without being noticed.

"Sorry, a black cat crossed my path and I was forced to take the long way." Said Kakashi.

"LIAR!" exclaimed Sakura getting a wince from all three males at her volume.

Ignoring the screeching girl Kakashi moved over to one of the three logs within the training grounds before sitting down the bag he'd been carrying. Rummaging through the bag he pulled out three things, an alarm clock and what looked like two food containers. Finally he reached within his pocket before pulling out small silver bells.

"Okay here's the deal." said Kakashi gaining the attention of the three gennin.

"You have until noon, which means three hours, to complete my test. The objective of this test is to retrieve these bells from me before your time runs out. Unfortunately there are only two bells and three of you, meaning one of you will fail. Should you fail however not only will I send you back to the academy; I'll let your teammates eat those lunches over there and tie you to the post and make you watch." Explained Kakashi with an eye smile.

As predicted all three of his students blanched though only two stomachs rumbled. Kakashi wasn't that surprised it was Naruto's stomach that didn't rumble as according to what he'd been told his father had ignored the don't eat suggestion as well.

"If you wish to take a bell from me then come at me with the intent to kill. Ready BEGIN." Cried Kakashi.

Just after he said this a cloud of dust was kicked up as the gennin took off. When the dust settled however Kakashi was surprised to find Naruto still standing there staring at him.

"You're a little off, you know." Stated Kakashi only for the blonde to smirk.

"The only thing off here is your haircut." Returned the teen before launching forward.

Kakashi sighed at the blondes charge before reaching into his weapons pouch only to quickly jump to the side to avoid the kunai that nearly impaled his face. The sound of something hissing quickly caught his attention forcing him to look down only for his eyes to widen just as the explosion note on the ground detonated.

Naruto grinned as he waited for the smoke to clear from the explosion. That grin immediately faded as he noticed the only thing in that place was what remained of what had been a log.

"Shit Kawarimi." Muttered the blonde.

"Lesson one never let an enemy behind you." Came Kakashi's voice as the man appeared crouched behind the blonde.

"Konoha's Ultimate Taijutsu Technique: One Thousand years of pain."

Noticing the man's position as well as the seal he was holding the blonde smirked as the man closed in just before his chakra spiked. Kakashi's danger senses kicked in and he quickly switched himself with yet another log just barely avoiding the explosion as the clone blew up.

'_Not only does he know Kage Bunshin, but Bunshin Bakuha. Kid really is sensei's son._' thought Kakashi smirking behind his mask before he went to find his first victim.

Both Sasuke and Sakura who had been hidden near by could only look on wide eyed at the scene. Sasuke had no doubt that had been some type of clone that had fought Kakashi as there was no blood to be seen around the area and judging by Kakashi's use of Kawarimi it had been Naruto who'd blown up the clone as well. Meaning not only could the boy create solid clones but he could make them explode as well. The boy's eyes narrowed at the idea of the orphan Naruto having skills that he an Uchiha lacked. Whatever the case he'd find out where he gained those techniques and take them for himself and use them to accomplish his ambition.

Sakura meanwhile was moving through the bushes. She'd lost track of Sasuke a while back as she'd been distracted by watching Kakashi and Naruto's clone go at it. She'd nearly screamed out a warning when she saw Kakashi appear behind the blonde only for it to die in her throat upon seeing the blonde explode showing that it had been some type of clone.

In her haste to find the object of her rather misguided affections she never took in to account exactly how much noise she was making. Someone else however didn't.

"Sakura."

At the sound of her voice Sakura turned around quickly only to blink as she saw nothing but a flurry of leaves. Before she could move on however a noise to her left caught her attention turning towards it she saw a sight that would haunt her for years to come. Emerging from the bushes was none other than the object of her affection Uchiha Sasuke. To her horror however when he emerged his body was littered with gashes while a few shuriken and kunai were embedded into his body.

"Sakura run." Muttered the black haired boy weakly before falling over on to his face.

It took a moment to register but when it did the scream that ripped its way from her throat was heard all the way to the Hokage Tower before she collapsed in a dead faint. Whether this was due to shock or lack of oxygen no one knows would ever know or care.

"Lesson two: Genjutsu. Sakura fell to it easily." Muttered Kakashi with a sweatdrop while trying to get his ears to stop ringing.

Before he could make a move three Naruto's emerged from the trees throwing a barrage of weapons towards the scarecrow looking jounin. Once again utilizing Kawarimi the jounin evaded the weapons only to find all the Naruto's and Sakura gone when he looked over. Smiling beneath his mask the jounin reached into his pouch before pulling out a small orange book and walking, slowly, through the forest towards where he knew Sasuke was.

Meanwhile the real Naruto sat within the trees trying to figure out a plan. He'd originally thought about surrounding the man with clones and having them explode but ruled it out as it was a bit overboard. In the meantime he had clones positioned all around the training ground to keep an eye on both his sensei and his teammates. Hopefully they'd find something he could use to his advantage.

Sasuke smirked from his position in the trees as he watched Kakashi lean against a tree reading. With but a flick of his wrist he used the kunai in his hand to cut the wire next to him sending a virtual wall of kunai heading towards the man. As they hit Kakashi flew to the side only to turn into a skewered log causing the boy to curse as he abandoned the position he'd been hiding in. before he could go far however he found Kakashi standing in front of him, nose still buried within his book.

"So it's your turn then." Stated Kakashi nonchalantly.

"Hmph. I'm not like those other two losers." Said Sasuke while sliding into a stance.

"Try saying that after getting a bell." Said Kakashi lightly not even looking up from his book.

Sasuke seeing this launched forwards throwing a punch that was easily parried only to spin with it and send a kick at the man. As the kick neared Kakashi leaned back only for his eyes to widen at seeing Sasuke reach in and actually touch a bell forcing him to jump backwards. Coming out of his spin the black haired youth ran through a quick series of seals before stopping on the seal for 'tiger'.

'What there's no way a kid his age should have the chakra necessary for that technique.' Thought Kakashi.

"**Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu.**" Exclaimed the boy before a large fireball was launched from his mouth straight towards the man.

Eyes wide in surprise Kakashi barely had enough time to slid his book into his pouch before the fireball hit. He smirked at the sight as he waited for the smoke to clear. When it did however his eyes widened as all he found was the charred remainders of a log.

"Shit where'd he go. Up, left, right…" muttered the boy as he searched around himself quickly.

"Below." Came Kakashi's voice just before a pair of hands grabbed his ankles and he found himself buried up to his neck in the ground.

"**Doton:** **Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Double Suicide Decapitation Technique)**." Said Kakashi as he appeared in front of the boy in a crouched position.

"You know just because your different doesn't mean your better." Stated Kakashi before eye smiling.

Standing up he began to walk away. He'd only made it five steps before he found himself dodging several kunai and shuriken. Looking around he found at least eighty Naruto's coming towards him from all sides in a pincer maneuver. He blinked and suddenly all the Naruto's converged on him clearing the distance just that quickly.

Whipping out a kunai of his own Kakashi set to decimating the number of clones covering the field in a large cloud of smoke with all the clones he destroyed. When the smoke cleared the sight that greeted him was one of such horror that he'd remember it until the end of his days. For the final and obviously the real Naruto judging by the cut he saw was standing there smirking at him with the jounin's book held in his hand an explosive tag placed right on the cover. As he turned it he nearly fainted seeing the tag on the other side as well.

"I've placed a tag right in the middle of the book as well. You know all I have to is channel a small bit of chakra and it goes boom. So what will it be your book or the bells?" Asked Naruto with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

With a sigh Kakashi untied the bells getting a smirk from the boy who created and sent yet another clone to get the bells. Once he had the bells in his hand he handed the book to the clone which immediately headed back towards Kakashi and just as he handed him the book the alarm rang signaling the end of the test.

When Sakura came to she found herself tied to the center post within the training grounds. On each side of her sat a smirking Naruto and a scowling Sasuke. Before she could say a word however Kakashi who was standing in front of them spoke up.

"Sasuke, Sakura it seems you two won't be needing to go back to the academy though Naruto will." Started Kakashi getting a smirk from the Uchiha.

"Instead you two should be removed from the program altogether." Finished the man shocking both of them.

"WHAT. WHAT ABOUT NARUTO-BAKA HE FAILED TOO." Screamed Sakura irate at the idea of being separated from Sakura.

"Naruto gets to go back because he actually managed to get the bells from me. Whereas you Sakura didn't do anything but look for Sasuke even when you knew Naruto was closer. On top of that Naruto it seems was the only one to grasp the true meaning of this test." Said Kakashi his single exposed eye serious as he stared down the gennin.

"True meaning." Mumbled Sakura in confusion getting a sigh from the man.

"Teamwork. That is the focus of this test. Why else do you think you were placed into teams? Naruto showed he grasped this when he not only retrieved your unconscious body Sakura, but when he tried to wake you to work with him." Said Kakashi getting wide eyes from the girl.

"You two it seems couldn't grasp this. Sasuke because he immediately assumed you two would hold him back while you Sakura only seem to have eyes for Sasuke." Said Kakashi before he sighed and shook his head.

"I'll give you guys one more chance at this. You can rest for the next hour and then we'll start. In the meantime you two Naruto, Sasuke can eat those lunches. Just don't feed Sakura. I'm the law from now on, and what I say goes." Said Kakashi before disappearing in a whirl of leaves.

For a few minutes the clearing was silent as Naruto and Sasuke ate at least until Sakura's stomach growled making her blush. Naruto sighed and silently cursed his kind nature before offering her the remaining half of his food an action followed by Sasuke soon after.

"But you guys…" started Sakura only to be cut off by Sasuke.

"Just shut up and eat it. Starving yourself will only make you useless." Said the boy getting a shaky nod from the girl.

Just as she was able to touch the food Kakashi appeared with flames seemingly burning behind his eye while Iruka's 'Demon Head Technique' was engaged.

"I thought I said NOT to feed her." growled Kakashi as he glared at the teens.

"We're a team." Said Sasuke quietly.

"And teammates help each other out." Said Naruto with a shrug.

"You guys…pass." finished Kakashi with an eye smile.

"Out of all the teams I've been given you guys are the first to have passed. This is because you are the first to actually show teamwork which is one of the secrets to Konoha's strength. For instance it is impossible for any single gennin to defeat a jounin. However a team of gennin with excellent teamwork can do so." Explained Kakashi.

"Do you guys see that stone over there?" asked the man motioning to his right getting nods from the gennin.

"On that stone are engraved the names of Konoha's hero's." started the man pausing as he saw the looks in the eyes of the gennin.

"The thing they have in common is that they are all dead. All of them died doing their duty to the village, some from lack of teamwork. The names of my best friends are on there." Said the man the mood turning somber as he gazed at the stone.

"In Konoha those who abandon a mission are considered trash. However those who abandon their friends are worse than trash." Said Kakashi a line that year's down the line would still be remembered by members of his team.

"Take the next two days off, we'll begin missions on Monday. From now on you guys are Team Seven."

Naruto smiled while Sasuke smirked and Sakura cheered at the news before leaving the training grounds. Sasuke's smirk could only widen as he left his pink haired fangirl tied to the post.

Later:

Sarutobi took a puff from his pipe as he looked at the gathered jounin. After listening to the reports it seemed only two teams had passed so far, teams 8 and 10. The only team unaccounted for was Kakashi's, before he could think further on that subject though the man appeared in a puff of smoke.

"So how'd they do?" asked Sarutobi staring into the man's eye.

"They passed." Said Kakashi causing several people to gasp while one even fainted.

"You actually passed a team." Said Asuma in shock as he stared at the masked jounin.

"How they do it?" asked Sarutobi.

"Well I gave them the bell test. In the end Naruto managed to threaten me into handing him the bells." Said Kakashi causing several people to go wide eyed.

"What did he do?" asked Sarutobi getting a sigh from the man.

"He somehow managed to not only steal my book but place explosive tags on both covers and the exact center." Said Kakashi with a shudder getting laughs from more than a few people.

At Ichiraku's Naruto suddenly sneezed. Hinata who he'd found and convinced to come with him looked at him worriedly only for the blonde to shrug it off as someone talking about him before going back to his meal.

Jurai:

Funaho sighed sadly as she watched Airi comforting a distraught Minaho. Minaho the oldest of Yosho's children had always been close to her sisters and the news of Achika's death hit her hard. A similar scene had played out when news of Kiyone's death had reached them as well. As she turned away from the scene she steeled her resolve. It was time her family was finally pulled back together again.

AN: That's it for this chapter. Thanks for reading and please review.


	4. Enter Wave

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Chapter 4

AN: Hello all. I really don't have much to say today just that the manga is actually getting interesting again. Kishimoto has introduced the Raikage who is arranging for a gathering of the Kage's and is now aiming to kill Sasuke because of the hesitance of the leaf.

Other than that the names of Nidaime and Sandaime Hokage's have finally been released. The Nidaime is named Senju Tobirama. The Sandaime's first name is apparently Hizuren, so that's Sarutobi Hizuren. Don't ask me what these names mean because I have absolutely no idea, though I like one of my friends 'D-reaper X-20' believe that they could have been a bit more original with Nidaime's name. Well that's all I got so here's the chapter.

Start Now: 

The figure dashed towards freedom at the highest speed possible for him desperate to escape his pursuers. As he made his escape he used the darkness of his surroundings to the best of his ability. He would not be caught and sent back into that hell, not today, and never again. Panting heavily he stopped for breath warily searching his surroundings before sighing having not located his pursuers.

"Target located. Duck-butt in position." A voice whispered quietly into an earpiece, the owner eyeing its target."

"Banshee in position." A second voice whispered through gritted teeth.

"Goldilocks in position. Requesting authorization to eliminate." A third voice whispered the owner fingering their weapons.

"Request declined Goldilocks. Target must be captured alive and unharmed. Repeat target must be captured alive and unharmed." A fourth voice returned fiercely.

"Duck-butt retrieve the target, Banshee back Duck-butt, Goldilocks your support." The fourth voice said.

"Confirmed." The three whispered simultaneously.

"Go." The fourth voice ordered.

Immediately after the command was given a hail of kunai flew towards the resting target. The figure jerked in surprise as the weapons landed in front and on both sides of him. Eyes widening in fear he jumped over those in front of him ready to hightail it only for several shuriken to land in front of him blocking his path an explosive note dangling from the end of one of them.

Eyes widening in fear at the sight he turned and dashed away trying to escape what he knew was coming. Jumping over a tree limb he found himself snatched out of the air with a hand on the back of his neck.

"Target captured." Said Sasuke as he looked down at his target.

"Does the target have a bow on the left ear?" asked Kakashi over the radio.

Sasuke sighed as he turned the target around finding and confirming the bow on its ear just as Sakura jumped down from the trees. Just as Sakura hit the ground their target launched himself forward claws extended and successfully landing two swipes on his captors face. From his position in the trees Naruto could only laugh as he watched the cat struggle to further harm the Uchiha having learned his lesson after the first time they'd chased down the damn feline.

Three months had passed since the formation of team seven and since then things had settled down nicely for the blonde. Since the truth behind the Kyuubi's defeat had been leaked to the adults he found his life had become a lot easier and though there were some who didn't believe it they chose to keep their hostility to themselves.

His training had been going nicely as well. Kakashi had been focusing on the physical aspect of his abilities. He'd mostly been working on building his speed and strength as according to Kakashi the taijutsu he was learning revolved around speed and power.

The style he was learning was apparently one of the infamous Hakkeshou styles, much like the Hyuga clans Jyuken. The difference however were that were the Jyuken only incorporated palm and finger thrust his had a wide variety of techniques. Between learning the new taijutsu along with his weight training even Naruto's legendary stamina had worn out.

He'd also been able to get Iruka to give him some tips for some higher level chakra control exercises. As far as his ninjutsu training was concerned however he'd managed to learn one of the techniques he'd copied from the scroll and was in the process of learning the one created by the Yondaime though it was proving difficult. Still he was willing to bet that if that had been all he was working on he'd be able to learn it quicker. As far as genjutsu went though Kakashi had taught him a few ways to detect and dispel them though casting them was a little out of his reach at the moment.

He had also been getting to know Hinata better as well having lunch with her whenever the two could and at a different restaurant each time. With as much time that they spent together though he had discovered that Hinata wasn't as under confident as everyone believed. Instead she was merely afraid of her own power which was understandable considering she'd seen someone killed in one strike at a young age. Though she was still a bit under confident and shy the girl was slowly coming out of her shell.

Unfortunately he had yet to break Yosho-oh's reprogramming of his eating mannerisms and as such was still forced to eat his ramen at the ridiculously slow rate that he had been. There was also the fact that Yosho-oh was only allowing him to go to Ichiraku's once a day and he could only eat three bowls of the stuff. The one time he'd gone against it he found himself knocked out by an electric shock as the key's self defense mechanism activated. Apparently since Yosho-oh was his mother's partner and not his own it could work against him.

The only other problem he'd had of late was the missions his team was sent on. upon there first mission team seven had been introduced to the waste of time that were D-ranked missions. D-ranks were nothing more than chores that people were too lazy to do themselves. According to Iruka however the D-ranks served a purpose as they were meant to help build the teamwork between the gennin cells.

Though he wouldn't admit it he knew that the teamwork was definitely needed in his cell. As things stood the members of team seven did not get along. Sakura fawned over Sasuke and didn't like Naruto, Sasuke didn't like either of his teammates and was always trying to pick fights with his male teammate. Naruto however was tired of both of them and had been seriously contemplating their murders for the past two months.

Kakashi had apparently seen this and had introduced the boy to the art of meditation. Through his practice Naruto found that not only did it help him relax it made him calmer, helped with his chakra control, and did wonders for his notoriously short patience. Still even with his new found patience he didn't know how much more of these D-rank missions he could take.

As the group entered the office of the Hokage Naruto found himself enjoying one of the two benefits of this particular D-rank mission, watching the certain cat suffer. Many would consider what Tora went through as animal cruelty those people however didn't know Tora and thus had no say as far as Naruto was concerned.

Out of everyone in the room Sarutobi was the only one who recognized the look of glee the blonde had at the animals suffering. The small smirk on his face was reminiscent of his fathers from his gennin days. His eyes however were glinting like his mothers hinting at the harm he wished upon the feline. Once the wife of the Fire Lord had left the room with Tora in tow Sarutobi cleared his throat catching the attention of the gennin team before him.

"Alright Team Seven has successfully completed its twenty-fourth D-rank Mission. Kakashi you now have the right to go on a C-ranked mission. However you can also decline and take D-ranks to further train your team." Stated the Sandaime, before Kakashi could speak however a crash sounded outside the room.

"NO TORA COME BACK!" came the voice of the Lady of Fire.

"We'll take the C-rank Hokage-sama." Stated Kakashi quickly.

Sarutobi couldn't blame him for that three months inside of a village would make any shinobi begin to go stir crazy. This was especially true for those who'd been ANBU and were used to leaving the village within a week of returning.

"Alright then your team will be responsible for the escort and protection of a man named Tazuna. You are to escort him to Wave Country and guard him there until the bridge he is building over there is completed. The most you can expect on this mission is a small band of bandits from time to time. You are to pack for a two week stay and meet your charge at the north gate in one hour." Said Sarutobi getting nods from each of the gennin before dismissing them.

One hour later the members of team seven had each gathered at the gate waiting for both Kakashi and their client. Once the two arrived the gennin took the chance to look over the client while Kakashi logged them out with the gate guards. (AN: I'm not describing him you know how he looks already.)

The first two hours of the trip had to of been the most talkative. For the first few minutes Sakura had bombarded Tazuna with questions about the Wave Country that seemed to be both pointless and annoying. This had lead to Kakashi giving a lesson about the Elemental Countries the blonde found himself ignoring having already learned it from Yosho-oh.

So instead of tuning in for a repeat of an already learned lesson, the blonde took the time to enjoy his surroundings. The only time he ever got to enjoy nature while in the village was when he was out of the village proper. He sighed in contentment as he allowed himself to bathe in the rays of the sun and took in the scents coming from the plants and trees surrounding him. He could hear the sounds of the various animals surrounding them and could see a squirrel shoot across the road and right past a puddle on the ground.

'Wait a minute. Why the hell is there a puddle on the ground on a nice day like this when it hasn't rained in at least a month?' Thought the blonde his eyes narrowing on the puddle.

Turning his head he saw Kakashi had also noticed the oddly placed puddle as he fell to the back of the group. Slowing his pace he allowed all but Kakashi to pass him as his hand fell to rest near his kunai holster. As he past he kept a weary eye on the puddle though he didn't turn to look at it.

It was as Kakashi past it that two men rose out of the puddle, one on top of the other, both of them wearing a slashed Kiri hitate-tae. Almost as soon as they did the pair launched themselves at Kakashi wrapping him up in a chain that they had connected to clawed gauntlets they were each wearing.

"One…"

"…down"

The only indicator of Kakashi's surprise was the widening of his eye as they pulled the chain taut before Kakashi exploded in a mass of blood and guts. The two moved to continue only for the chain connecting them to be pinned into a tree trunk by a kunai. Not hesitating the two released the chain from their respective ends and continued forwards.

As the two ran they split one going towards Tazuna and the other towards the closet threat, Naruto. Having already drawn his kunai Naruto let it rip only for the man to move to the side. Just as he was moving to pass that kunai puffed into smoke showing it to have been a clone of the blonde that quickly nailed the man with a kick to the face. That had been all Naruto needed to get his opening as in just that second he nailed the man with a punch so hard he flew into a tree out cold.

While this was going on Sakura had jumped in front of Tazuna with a kunai in hand ready to defend her charge as the other attacker closed on them. Before he could make it however Sasuke jumped onto the scene landing a kick to the man's chest that sent him staggering back a bit. Recovering quickly he moved to dash past Sasuke once again towards Tazuna only to be stopped could by a clothesline from Kakashi that had him out like a light.

"These two are the nuke-nin Meizu and Gouzu better known as the Demon Brothers. They're chuunin level nuke-nin known to keep fighting no matter what." Muttered Kakashi with a frown.

"Kakashi-sensei your alive." Said Sakura relief clear in her voice causing Sasuke to scoff and her face to fall.

"Man sensei that was pretty cool. Using a genjutsu to cover your usage of Kawarimi like that." Said Naruto with a grin, wishing for the first time he had the control to use genjutsu like that.

"Right, now Tazuna-san I think you have some explaining to do. The C-rank mission you hired us for means bandits at the worst. However the ninja that just attacked and tried to kill you bumps this mission up to at least a B-rank. I'll give you one chance to tell me the truth otherwise I knock you out and we take it up with Hokage-sama." Said Kakashi his eye serious as a heart attack.

Any other time Kakashi may not have been as harsh. However he'd already promised on his sensei's grave he'd allow no further harm to come to his son and he'd be damned if he failed that promise. Regardless of this however any resistance Tazuna may have had shattered like glass falling onto concrete at the glare the jounin was giving him.

Basically what it boiled down to was Wave Country had been taken over by some corrupt business man by the name of Gato. Gato had taken over all the sea's surrounding the islands that made up the land of Waves which was forcing Tazuna to build the bridge in the hopes of breaking Gato's hold on his country.

'_Quite admiral really and truthfully all the man had to do was tell the truth in the first place. If he had Sandaime-sama may have just sent in an ANBU team to deal with Gato._' Thought Kakashi with a sigh.

"Alright guys we'll decide by votes on whether we continue the mission or go home. Naruto."

Needless to say the group ended up continuing the mission, otherwise I'd have to end the chapter here. The rest of the journey had been made in silence as the gennin were now too busy looking out for enemy shinobi to talk. It had taken two days and a twenty minute boat ride to reach the island their charge needed to head to. Kakashi frowned beneath his mask at the mist surrounding the islands as it reduced the visibility of his book.

A set of gasps had him looking upon the site of Tazuna's bridge. Though incomplete Kakashi had to admit that the bridge was quite impressive. Apparently his team agreed with him as both Naruto and Sakura had released a pair of gasp and Sasuke's eyes had widened. It didn't take long after that for them to reach land and disembark, once they had however the boats driver quickly pushed off the land and disappeared back into the mist.

Five minutes into their walk Naruto stopped and before anyone could blink had whipped a kunai out and sent it hurtling into the bushes to the side of him. As the group stopped Naruto followed after his kunai only to find it nailed into the trunk of a tree just atop the head of a rabbit. Eyes narrowing at the sight the blonde withdrew his weapon from the tree before moving back to the group.

"NARUTO-BAKA STOP TRYING TO ACT COOL SCARING EVERYBODY LIKE THAT." Screamed Sakura as soon as the blonde returned only to be silenced by a glare.

"Shut up Haruno if the enemy didn't already know we were here they surely would now with all that damn screeching you fucking banshee." snarled the blonde trying to hold himself back from killing the annoyance before him.

As if to confirm the boys words Kakashi was barely able to call out a warning before the business end of a Zanbato was embedded into a tree behind the group. Turning towards it everyone tensed as they saw the man standing atop of the swords hilt. The man was revealed to be nuke-nin Momochi Zabuza a member of Kiri's Seven Shinobi Swordsmen. Seeing he'd have to be serious for this one Kakashi raised the slanted end of his hitae-tae from over his eye revealing the Sharingan eye he kept hidden.

Seeing this Zabuza disappeared before reappearing on the lake in front of the group as the mist around them began to thicken and Zabuza's killing intent filled the air.

"Eight points the larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, kidney, brain, and heart. Now which vital organ do you want to get struck at?" questioned Zabuza his voice coming from all around the area.

Kakashi had barely been able to assure his gennin that no harm would come to them before Zabuza had struck. Appearing in the middle of the group of gennin he swung his massive blade intent to kill Tazuna in a single strike. There was a loud 'clang' as his blade was halted by what appeared to be a shield of pure energy.

'_A chakra shield_.' Thought the nuke-nin in shock seeing such a thing.

This had been all the time needed as Kakashi had cleared the distance just half a second after the blade had stopped and embedded a kunai into Zabuza's stomach. Suddenly however the nuke-nin fell turning into a pile of water, only for another Zabuza to appear and slice through Kakashi, who coincidently also fell into a pile of water. Before he could even speak the man found a kunai held against his neck as Kakashi appeared behind him.

"It's over Zabuza." Spoke Kakashi. Zabuza chuckled at this before slitting his own throat and yet again turning into water.

"SENSEI BEHIND YOU!"

Naruto's warning coming just in time for Kakashi to duck under a swing from Zabuza. Undeterred Zabuza spun with his swing and connected a kick to the Copy Nin's chest sending him flying into the water. As the Copy Nin surfaced however Zabuza appeared behind him running through seals at an astonishing rate.

"Fool. **Suirou no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique)**."

Suddenly Kakashi found himself trapped within a large sphere of water. As this happened another clone of Zabuza formed from the water around them before heading towards the gennin. Naruto had barely been able to dodge the knee delivered by the clone before summoning at least thirty clones of his own.

Though surprised by the number of clones created by the gennin the Zabuza clone easily dispatched them. Still this had been enough for Naruto who had taken the opportunity to draw out a large foldable shuriken which he quickly snapped open.

"**Fuma Shuriken: Kage Fusha (Wind Demon Shuriken: Shadow Windmill)!**"

At the exclamation the blonde jumped and spun using the momentum to hurl the shuriken. The shuriken sailed past the clone heading directly for the real Zabuza and the trapped Kakashi. Still Zabuza was a jounin for a reason and simply snatched the weapon out of the air with his unoccupied hand. As he did this however it revealed a second shuriken which had been hiding in the shadow of the first.

"Impressive. But still not enough."

As he stated this Zabuza hopped over the shuriken allowing it to sail past him harmlessly much to the shock of the watching Sasuke and Sakura. Kakashi eyes widened however as he spotted the smirk on Naruto's face just as the shuriken went up in a puff of smoke revealing another Naruto much to everyone's shock. The Naruto smirked as his chakra spiked causing the jounin's eyes to widen just as it exploded violently.

When things cleared up the two jounin could be found panting several feet away from the blast point. Having taken the chakra spike as a warning each of the jounin had barely been able to escape the explosion via Kawarimi. As such the only thing caught in the blast were Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin and a piece of wood though both of them were singed slightly showing just how close it was.

Recovering quickly however Zabuza was quick to run through seals before a large dragon made of water emerged from the lake. The dragon roared before charging the group only to be dispelled by a dragon of Kakashi's own. The shouting match that ensued made Naruto sweat drop as Kakashi used the ability of his Sharingan to predict Zabuza's words and speak them just as the man was about to increasing his frustration.

Finally his anger overcame him an in an effort to destroy the Copycat Zabuza ran through more seals only to freeze as an image of himself appeared before him. This had been just enough for Kakashi to finish the technique causing a large wave of water to erupt and slam the nuke-nin into a tree where he laid immobile. Just as Kakashi prepared the finishing blow however three senbon shot out of the trees imbedding into Zabuza's neck causing him to fall over.

Just as he did a figure in an odd mask appeared in front of him who Kakashi recognized as a Hunter-nin. After checking to confirm the nuke-nin's death Kakashi backed away allowing the Hunter-nin to pick up Zabuza's body. Giving his farewells disappeared in a swirl of leaves made his way back to his gennin pulling his hitae-tae back over his eye as he went. As he reached the group however the Copy Nin swayed before falling face first into the dirt amidst the cries from the gennin.

AN: That's it for this chapter Thanks for reading and please review. Constructive criticism is welcome flames not so much. Till Next time LATER.


	5. The Hero of Wave

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Chapter 5: The Hero of Wave

AN: Hello all, it's been a while. Firstly I have to thank everyone who left reviews. I don't really have much to say seeing as how there's been no manga released in the last two weeks WTF. Anyway here's the long awaited fifth chapter.

Start Now:

The atmosphere was tense within the Masaki household. It had taken a month and a half for Airi, Funaho, Misaki, Seto, and Minaho to reach the planet Earth where the rest of the family lived. Luckily they had called ahead and informed them that they needed to speak to everyone when they arrived. Sighing to herself Airi took a deep breath and began to speak the words she'd been dreading to speak for over a month.

"A month and a half ago Jurai received a transmission from the Yosho-oh." Started Airi catching her husband's immediate attention as well as everyone else surrounding them.

"The transmission…it announced the death of Masaki Achika." She said finally her words cutting through Yosho and Noike better than even the sharpest of blades.

"According to the data received Achika died nearly thirteen years ago during a demon's attack on the village she'd been living in." She finished her voice cracking near the end.

"Airi-san not to be rude but who is Achika? I've never heard of her but she must hold some significance for you to mention her to us like this." Said Aeka getting a sigh from the woman before Misaki spoke up.

"Achika is your niece, Yosho and Airi's daughter, and Kiyone's twin sister." Said the woman causing Aeka, Sasami, and Tenchi to look up in shock.

"She was also one of the top candidates to take the thrown once your father stepped down. The only ones with a greater chance are Yosho, Tenchi, and Seina." Finished Misaki with a sigh.

"There was another thing." Stated Seto catching the group's attention and putting the conversation back on track.

"There were two other genetic codes sent to us. One of them was to register a Masaki Naruto, Achika's son who was born only a week before her death." Said Seto causing Yosho's eyes to narrow.

"And the father?" asked Yosho quietly.

"Unknown though he is also deceased he died the same night as Achika. Though in the genetic sequence we received it showed he was at least part Juraian." Explained the woman.

"I take it we are to go and retrieve Achika's son then." Said Washu getting a nod from Seto.

"That is correct. Azusa-sama will meet up with us when we reach Jurai as will Seina and his group. From there we will all travel to the planet where the transmission originated from." Explained Minaho.

"What planet is that exactly?" asked Noike causing all three women to wince noticeably.

"Furya."

* * *

Four days had passed since the battle against Zabuza. Team seven had made it to Tazuna's house that same day where Kakashi had been sleeping ever since. Sasuke had spent the time brooding while Sakura spent her time fawning over Sasuke. In an effort to avoid both his teammates and Tazuna's emo grandson Naruto had spent the entire week away from the house leaving a few clones stationed around the place.

The week had been extremely fruitful for the blonde as he'd dedicated it to training. All week he'd had clones working on chakra control exercises, using Yosho-oh's key, and jutsu's. He himself had worked on all physical aspects of training aside from working on the one jutsu he hadn't learned from the scroll that night. Now that he had time to work on it though it was coming quickly especially because the creator of the jutsu had been very informative of the jutsu and how it works.

A rustle in the bushes to his right broke him from his thoughts causing him to turn. After a few moments a young girl emerged from the shrubbery a serene smile on his face, her name Haku. Naruto had met the girl on his third day out of the house as she had come to gather herbs to help cure a friend of illness. They had immediately hit it off becoming fast friends.

She had surprised him however when she'd made the boy an offer to help him with his training and had taught him to walk on water. Her story however was a tragic one. Having been born in a small village in Mizu no Kuni and had lived there happily with her parents until she was seven. It was around this time that she'd first discovered her gift, an elemental bloodline that allowed her to combine water and wind chakras to make ice.

That day she had shone her mother what she'd discovered only to be told not to do so again. During this time Mizu no Kuni had been going through what they called the Bloodline Purges killing all who held them as the people now believed bloodlines to be the cause of wars. That night her father had come home drunk, having witness Haku's display earlier in the day. In his drunken state he had proceeded to kill her mother before turning to kill Haku only for Haku to kill him during her panic.

For a while she'd lived on the streets following this. That is until she'd been taken in by a man who had become her father figure someone who apparently hadn't cared that she'd held a bloodline. Hearing this had made him both happy and sad for the girl who'd lived an existence so similar to his own.

Before he had even realized it he had been sharing his own story with her. Telling her of the hatred he had endured from his village because people had been told that a demon had been sealed in him when it actually hadn't been. He had told her of the attempts made on his life by not only villagers but by the shinobi as well.

Since that day the girl had come back every day if for no other reason than to talk. Yet for the first time Naruto found himself feeling true peace and relaxation just by her mere presence. Not even the Sandaime had ever been able to instill such a feeling within him in the hell that had been his life. Haku however was a kindred spirit, she knew the pain he had felt, seen past the farce that was his mask, and recognized the scars that covered his heart simply because like him she bore them as well. This was someone who knew the pain of knowing that her life and very existence was meaningless to those around her.

He supposed this was what had led to their first kiss and the many that had followed it in just the last few days. He had found a woman who could relate to him in ways even Hinata could not. Even with all she had been through with her father Hinata had still lived a sheltered and protected life and couldn't understand what his was like. Hinata was a pearl beautiful, kind and compassionate. It was just before anyone could see and appreciate her beauty and value she had to come out of her shell like all pearls must.

Haku however had been through that same storm, she had felt the pressure, and molded herself within the fire. In the end she had become a diamond of the highest quality. She was beautiful, kind yet because of her past she had become tough, so tough in fact that there were very few things that could be done to break her. Though they were different both were precious and Naruto wouldn't change them in any way.

As she had in the last few days Haku greeted him with a soft kiss. As they parted she couldn't help but giggle at the dazed look on the boys face.

"So how's it coming?" asked Haku glancing at the rubber ball the blonde held within his hands.

"Not as good as I'd hoped. If you hadn't taught me the water walking exercise I probably wouldn't have gotten this far." Said the boy with a sigh.

Unfortunately it was the truth as even though he'd learned tree walking he hadn't been able to even get through the first step. He just hadn't had the needed control to have his chakra move in multiple directions. After learning the water walking exercise however his control had improved to the point that he'd been able to complete the first step. The second step however according to his fathers notes was one hundred times more difficult to complete and had been proven true.

The first step had been all about rotation. At his father's directions he'd been using water balloons using his chakra to rotate the water within them. The purpose of this was to use his chakra to rotate the waters in so many directions that it exploded. The second step was much the same, however instead of water he had to rotate the air within a rubber ball. Once again the issue had come back to control which led him to this point.

Around them Haku could see several clones working on variations of the tree walking ability. As instead of just walking or running up the tree with just their feet the clones were doing things differently. Some of the clones were currently climbing the tree using just their hands. Others were using their knees or elbows to do the same. She could even see some of them doing pushups and sit-ups on the trees.

Of course she had no knowledge of the clones the blonde had sent to do the same on the water near Tazuna's house, but far enough away so that no one would see them. She didn't know what jutsu could require so much chakra control but she knew without a doubt that it would undoubtedly be powerful. Of course she had no idea that this was a jutsu created by Naruto's father or that said man was the Yondaime Hokage 'Konoha's Yellow Flash' Namikaze Minato.

As it was Naruto knew that he'd have more then enough control to learn the jutsu by the end of the week. He couldn't wait to see the look on the old man's face when he displayed his knowledge of his fathers Rasengan.

* * *

Within the home of Tazuna and his family Hatake Kakashi could be found with his single exposed eye staring unseeingly at the ceiling above him. Upon awakening he was immediately greeted by Tsunami, the woman he now knew to be Tazuna's daughter. As he lye there he couldn't help but think back to the battle that had put him in his current position. He had never thought he'd be facing off against Momochi Zabuza upon accepting this mission and had he known that was what awaited him he'd have opened his book and left the Hokage's office without a single backwards glance.

He knew he should have turned around after first confronting the Demon Brothers as well. Unfortunately he'd let both his gennin and his desperation to be away from the village for awhile get the best of him and convince him into continuing. Now not only did he have to deal with Zabuza but judging by the way that the so called hunter-nin left with the man's body another nin as well, one who could be just as strong.

Once again he found himself cursing the chakra drain caused by his Sharingan eye. Since it was always activated he had a constant drain on his chakra though when it was covered the drain was small. If it was not for this constant drain he knew he'd have as much chakra as the Sannin at his disposal. Of course he probably wouldn't know half the number of techniques he did so he supposed it was an even trade. His thoughts on the matter however were broken as the door to the room opened.

"Sensei you're awake!" exclaimed Sakura.

Turning his head in her direction the Copy Nin was greeted by the forms of his pink haired and dark haired students. His eye quickly narrowed at the absence of his blonde student.

"Where's Naruto?" questioned Kakashi.

"Here." Said a voice before either of the two could answer surprising both gennin as said blonde walked in from behind them.

"I don't have an easy way of saying this so I'll just say it. Zabuza's alive." Said Kakashi causing all three gennin to go wide eyed.

"H-how is that possible, you checked yourself and confirmed he was dead." Said a pale Sakura

"I was clued in by the fact that the Hunter-nin took his body. If he was truly a Hunter-nin he'd have merely took his head and sealed it away as proof. Of course since Zabuza is one of Kiri's Seven Swordsman he'd have most likely taken the sword as well.

The weapon used was also a clue to this as the hunter used senbon. Senbon needles are useful for many things, the most prominent of them hitting pressure points. Someone skilled enough and with the correct medical knowledge could put someone into a death like state." Explained Kakashi with a sigh.

"S-s-so what are we supposed to do?" asked Sakura her stutter showing her fear.

"We train." Said Kakashi as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Sakura, Sasuke tomorrow I'll be teaching you something that will definitely help you. Naruto since you've already learned it you already know what you need to work on." said Kakashi getting nods from the group.

Sasuke hearing this grit his teeth and left as soon as he was dismissed followed quickly by Sakura. Kakashi seeing this turned his eye on his sole remaining student.

"So where is the real Naruto?"

* * *

The next morning found the group of Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura within a small forest clearing a short distance from Tazuna's house. As they turned towards their teacher both gennin couldn't help but stand a bit straighter as he turned his single visible eye onto them with none of his usual laziness present within it.

"Alright you two what I'm going to teach you is simple. That is…how to climb a tree."

As he said this the silver haired jounin couldn't help but laugh inwardly at the expressions the two gennin gave him.

"Now this is different from usual as you will be doing this without the use of your hands. This is actually an exercise to increase chakra control as you will need to focus the needed amount of chakra into your feet in able to climb the tree. Now the feet are known to be the hardest area to focus one's chakra so gaining control of this skill will theoretically allow you to learn any jutsu."

As he said this neither of the two gennin were able to hold back their shocked looks. Before they could say a word however each of them had a kunai embedded into the ground at their feet.

"You will use those kunai to mark your progress until you reach the top of the tree. Should you reach the top however you are to keep at it. The two of you are severely lacking in stamina and chakra reserves, especially you Sakura. This exercise however will help to increase both your reserves and stamina.

I will only offer this one piece of advice. That is that you will need to find and focus a precise amount of chakra into your feet to complete this exercise. Any less and you will fall or any more than needed and you will find yourselves launched off. I will be back to check on the two of you in a few hours."

With his last piece of advice given he turned to make his way back over to Tazuna's house.

* * *

That night found each of the gennin sitting at the table in exhaustion. Even Naruto was slumped over and though no one knew what he was up to it was obvious even his legendary stamina had finally seen its limit. Across from them Tazuna's young grandson Inari scowled at the group of teens.

"Why?" the questioned ripped through the silence like a blade through flesh catching the attention of all within the room.

"Why do you guys bother? No matter how much you try or how hard you train Gato will still kill you." With that said the boy slid from his seat and stormed off.

"I apologize for my grandsons behavior, the poor boy has been put through a lot." Said the old man as he moved to clean the lenses of his glasses.

"The word 'courage' has been stolen from the people of this country, including Inari, ever since the day of that incident."

"Tell me Tazuna-san what happened to Inari-kun?"asked Kakashi.

"Before I get to that, I must first tell you about the man that was called the hero of Wave. It was about three years ago that Inari met that man…" (See manga chapter 20 for more details on Tazuna's story.)

An hour later found the blonde within the forest surrounding the house of the bridge builder. A rubber ball could be seen shaking slightly as it sat within the palm of his hand as he looked up at the stars. The story told by Tazuna was still weighing heavily on his mind. The story had revolved around a man by the name of Kaiza, Inari's stepfather. Even though he wasn't from Wave originally the people treated him as one of their own after he had saved the village during a flood. He had also been the first to stand up against Gato as well; unfortunately he had received no help from the people who merely stood back waiting for him to save them. In the end this resulted in Kaiza's defeat as well as his public execution.

Lost in his thoughts the blonde failed to notice the rubber ball began to bulge all over before it exploded violently. The sudden release of the chakra enhanced wind had caused him to fall back and blink in shock as he stared at the shredded remains of the rubber ball.

* * *

Three days later Momochi Zabuza grunted as he stood to his feet. After a week of nothing but lying in bed he was finally back to his full capability. Three figures stood in the shadows silently as they watched their master gather himself. Finally after a few minutes of silence the man spoke up.

"Prepare yourselves, we attack tomorrow."

The figures remained silent but each could see the bloodlust shining within the man's eyes and if not for the bandages wrapping his face would have seen the grin to go with it. Regardless two of the shadowed figures smiled at the sight their own bloodlust rising. This was the man that had slaughtered an entire graduation class before it was even his time to graduate. This was the man who once led Kiri's assassination squad, this was the Demon of the Bloody Mist and it appears it was time to hunt.

AN: That's it for this chapter. Thanks for reading and please review. Till next time, LATER.


	6. Battle On A Bridge

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Chapter 6:

Since the dawn of man there have been battles from grand memorable battles to small insignificant scuffles. Even in the beginning when mankind had not even been capable of speech one would still be able and willing to hit another upside the head with a stick once slighted. Despite the fact that human beings had come a long way since those early days the fact of the matter was that battles have become even grander since then as humans have taken to fighting on the seas, in the air and even in the vastness of space.

Even the three Goddesses who gave birth to the universe and all its planets had been left confused by mankind's seemingly irresistible urge to do battle. However among the hundreds of races living throughout the universe today there is one race that reigns supreme having developed a knack for battles, Furyans. Despite the fact that the planet sat on the very edge of Jurai controlled space Furyans are still the most feared race in the universe. Known as the warrior race horror stories depicting the merciless, and brutally efficient ways in which Furyans fought echoed across even the deepest reaches of space even now 200 years since the last time someone had actually seen one.

In that rather small gap of time for most races the Furyan race had seemingly evolved into an even more battle ready nature and it was here on the small planet of Furya in the country of Wave that a very memorable battle would take place.

_Naruto didn't have dreams. When he slept all he saw was darkness in every direction, he had stopped having dreams long ago. For someone like him a dreamless sleep was a comfort. Yet what he was in now he could only describe as a dream. He stood surrounded on all sides by water, even standing on it as if it was the very earth itself while a gentle breeze circled around him which oddly enough brought him comfort. He didn't know how long he had been standing here taking in the scenery it could have been anywhere from hours to centuries. _

"_Hello Naruto-kun." Said a feminine voice, the first he'd heard in what seemed like decades causing him to snap around to face it._

_As he turned to face the voice his eyes widened and he could feel his breath get caught in his chest. The woman before him could only be described as radiant at best with his limited vocabulary, for calling her beautiful would seem like an insult. The woman stood at a height of 5'5" and had a skin tone that reminded him of his mothers. Long golden blonde hair fell down in waves around her with two bangs that hung down her front seemingly cupping her breast with their positions and he suddenly found himself jealous of her hair._

_Blushing at the thought he moved his sight away from her chest though he did note that she seemed to be about a C-36, his time researching his Oiroke no jutsu giving him a keen eye for such things. She wore an all white dress with gold bracelets on each wrist. Her feet were bare and apparently well taken care of. All in all this woman with her ethereal beauty could and most likely would be the closest he would ever come to seeing true beauty. _

"_Who are you?" questioned the boy not even trying to hide his awe of her._

"_I am Kyra, more specifically I am this planet given spiritual form. You are Masaki Namikaze Naruto, prince of Jurai and one of the last true Furyans. _

"_So would that make you like Tsunami?"_

"_No. Tsunami-sama is one of the Chosen, the three goddesses who gave birth to this universe. I suppose that would make her my mother." Answered the woman calmly. _

"_As for why I have called you here as I stated earlier you are among the last true Furyans. Everyone else on this planet descends from off world, though they have no knowledge of this. I suppose you could say they are my adopted children. You however are different as the blood and soul of Furya flows through you. _

_At the same time you are different from the rest of your family, even your father as you possess the one thing that hasn't been seen in your family since Tobirama and Hashirama. You possess the inner animal, that part of you that you hold back even now. That is how you were able to summon the power to stop the Kyuubi. With your animal and the power of Jurai's royal blood, my mothers blood, combined you were able to summon one of if not the most powerful weapon in existence even as a week old infant._

_However you were not able to control it and as such I took control of it. Ever since then I have been watching over you and like any true Furyan when everything and everyone else went against you, you remained defiant and refused to back down or give in. The animal within you refused to admit defeat to those beneath it. You went through the trials and came out unharmed even with your powers and animal sealed away from you. _

_This point however is where your journey shall truly begin. Though your abilities have been released the animal within you still slumbers." As she said this the woman wrapped the boy in her arms cradling his head to her breast. _

"_It is time to awaken my son. Awaken and show everyone what it means to be a true Furyan. Show the universe the power of our race. Announce to the universe that you are Masaki Namikaze Naruto, Son of Masaki Achika and Namikaze Minato, and the great grandson of Senju Namikaze Tobirama, prince of Jurai, heir of the Senju Clan, and last son of Furya." Finished the woman._

_As she finished the blonde looked up in shock only to lock eyes with her own, his last sight being that of the now glowing silver eyes of Furya before darkness claimed him._

* * *

"Sakura, Sasuke, time to go." Spoke Kakashi as he stood to his feet his one visible eye focused on his ever present little orange book.

"Hai."

"Hn."

Hearing their confirmation the Copy Nin turned out of the room and downstairs seeing Tazuna already grabbing his things from by the door. Stepping outside the house and into the morning air the silver haired jounin turned his head towards the roof.

"I need the original to meet us at the bridge." Said Kakashi before a puff of smoke was seen from a dispersed clone as the one that was beside it nodded.

Turning back into the house the Copy Nin stopped immediately seeing Tazuna as well as Sakura and Sasuke all ready to go. Nodding at them once he turned and made his way out the door and towards the still incomplete bridge.

* * *

When the members of team 7 and their charge made it to the bridge the sight that greeted them was enough to make Sakura's face turn green. All over the bridge the battered and broken bodies of the workers lied all around them.

'_He's here_.' Thought Kakashi his single visible eye narrowing as the forms of Zabuza and the fake Hunter-nin emerged from the mist.

Before he could even take a step forward four more Zabuza's emerged from the mist surrounding the group.

"Well it seems we meet again Kakashi, though it seems your little group is one short."

"Why don't you go play with the kiddies." Spoke Zabuza gruffly.

Without a word the masked nin dashed forward. Sasuke seeing this launched a kunai right at the masked nin's face. Not slowing in the slightest the masked shinobi merely tilted their head to the side the weapon sailing past them harmlessly. Smirking at the sight Sasuke charged forward to meet the masked nin another kunai quickly entering his hand. As the two met sparks flew threw the air and Sasuke's smirk fell completely finding his kunai being held off by senbon of all things.

In one smooth motion Zabuza's subordinate ended the stalemate easily tossing Sasuke's arm away from them and nailing him in the chest with a palm strike sending the boy sliding back several feet do to the wetness covering the bridge added to their own strength. Before he could even fully recover the masked figure was on top of him sending the duck haired boy reeling with a kick to the face that launched him into the mist and out of his team's sight, Zabuza's masked apprentice following not even a second later.

From his position Zabuza couldn't help but chuckle at the Konoha gennin's situation. The boy had obviously been able to get onto his apprentices bad side as he hardly ever saw his teenage apprentice be vicious.

"You might want to start considering replacements for duck ass if you live through this Kakashi. Whatever that gaki did to get on my apprentice's bad side just might get him killed."

Kakashi's single eye widened at that for just a moment before settling back to normal. Closing his eye the Copy Nin took a deep breath before exhaling. As the breath was released and his eye opened his entire countenance changed. Gone was 'Sharingan Kakashi' the normally aloof, and laid back jounin that most people took him for. In his place stood the prodigy who made gennin at 4, chuunin at 6, and jounin at 14, the man who until recently was known as ANBU captain Inu.

"This is your last chance to leave this place Zabuza. If you interfere any further in my mission I will kill you." Said Kakashi his voice sharper than a swords blade.

As the words reached his ears Zabuza laughed the sound echoing across the bridge before stopping suddenly.

"And just how do you plan on doing that, with that Sharingan eye of yours. You and I both know this mist hinders its sight and I've made it stronger this time. I'd be surprised if you could see two inches in front of your face."

"Very well, your future is death."

Piercing his thumb on a tack he kept on his belt the silver haired jounin was quick run the bleeding digit over the underside of his left wrist. A single puff of smoke later and a sheathed tanto could be seen in his hand. Turning swiftly Kakashi drew the weapon from its sheath the sound of metal clashing as tanto and zanpatou collided.

* * *

Deep in the empty dark void known as space Masaki Yamada Seina frowned as he sat within the captain's seat of his ship the Kamidake MK II. He was currently alone as his wives had left him alone so that he could gather his thoughts. At the moment his ship was barely two hours away from the planet Jurai after having traveled the distance across space for just past a month. Only now that he was close enough to get a secure connection had he and his wives been given the reason for their abrupt return by Seto-sama.

Apparently the palace had received an emergency signal from a treeship belonging to one of Airi-sama's daughters who'd been missing for over a century. The message had been sent directly to the Tsunami tree announcing the death of Airi-sama's daughter as well as the birth of the woman's son who'd been forced to grow up as an orphan for the past twelve years.

"This is Jurai command, code in." said a voice breaking the seventeen year old from his thoughts.

Looking into his video screen he found himself looking at the face of a uniformed brown haired man who he knew he'd forget within the hour.

"This is the Kamidake, docking code, guardian." Said Seina quietly.

"Code accepted, welcome home Seina-sama, docking will commence in thirty minutes." Said the man getting a nod from Seina before the screen went black.

Looking out the window he found himself eyeing a small green planet with a small smile.

'_While I love space it's good to be home_.' Thought the boy

* * *

Naruto shot awake his heart racing as he took in his surroundings. He was still within the clearing he'd taken to training in during his short time in Wave. Looking around he was not surprised to see he was alone with just the animals of the forest to keep him company. Standing slowly the blonde stretched his limbs happy that they no longer ached from the strain of his training the previous night, especially his hands and arms. Then again it wasn't all that surprising as he'd always been a rather quick healer, the scars on his face being the only things that never healed.

Suddenly his eyes narrowed as the memories of a dispersed shadow clone came to him. For about a minute he was still as his mind process all that he'd just learned. Finally he found himself blinking before he disappeared from the clearing in a burst of speed.

* * *

Back on the bridge the two jounin glared as zanpatou and tanto clashed yet again. Despite the furiousity of their battle neither had been able to successfully land a hit on the other as each proved to be very proficient with their chosen weapon. Kakashi himself found himself surprised at the challenge Zabuza was giving him as the man wielded the giant weapon as effortlessly as an Akimichi wielded a steak knife.

Ducking down the scarred jounin barely dodged the swipe meant to separate his head from his shoulders before spinning away to his left avoiding the kick that Zabuza had followed with. Coming out of his spin the Kakashi brought his blade up only to be blocked by Zabuza's giant blade yet again, then Zabuza was gone once again retreating into the mist.

On the other side of the bridge things were going far worse for Sasuke than for Kakashi. Behind the mask the faux hunter-nin smiled as they continued to toss around the Uchiha survivor all the while vocally wishing that the last member of team seven had been there instead of the Uchiha. To make matters worse his attacker had admitted herself to be female during her rant about Naruto. So not only was he being beaten but he was being beaten by a girl which in his mind should not have been possible.

Behind her mask Haku smiled as she watched the Uchiha brat tremble in fury. She had purposely revealed herself to be female just for this purpose knowing it would hurt his ego greatly. Still she did truthfully wonder what was keeping Naruto, he'd known the attack would be that day after all.

'_Hopefully he isn't picking up on any of the bad habits he told me the Copy nin has_.' Thought the girl absently throwing a couple senbon into the Uchiha's legs.

* * *

When Naruto arrived at Tazuna's house the sight that greeted him was one he had not expected. Standing on the bridge that connected Tazuna's house to the ground was no less than twenty of Gato's mercenaries. Looking down he could see his last two clones standing in front of Tsunami and Inari protectively with three mercenaries unconscious in front of them.

After being alerted to the situation by a dispersed shadow clone he had immediately rushed back through the woods surrounding Tazuna's home. It seemed that Gato wasn't putting all his faith in Zabuza and sent some meant to collect either Tsunami or Inari to use as insurance.

'_I need to hurry this up and get to the bridge_.' Thought the blonde as he pulled out a pair of blades that had been strapped securely to his legs.

The blades were a gift from Haku called Saber Claws. They were a pair of twin daggers that actually had the blades curved so that they went around his knuckles. The blades themselves were made of pure adamantium the same substance as the swords of the seven swordsmen with a serrated edge at the top leading to the grips, which were made of leather and were pitch black in color.

According to Haku they were designed to augment the taijutsu of their user which explained why the blades were curved. They were also capable of channeling nature chakra which would make them even more dangerous once he learned to use them. According to Haku their previous owner the number two of the seven swords had used them while channeling his water chakra to such a degree he could make liquid ice and would freeze his opponent from the inside.

Haku had gotten hold of them after a brief pass through Kiri which was still in the midst of their civil war so stealing them had been simple though they hadn't been her objective, though they had been in the same room. Shaking such thoughts from his head the blonde turned his sights back on the thugs just in time to see five more rush the group in front of the house.

Jumping off the roof the blonde rushed them thankful for how narrow the bridge was as only two of these men could walk comfortably beside each other, yet only one could if they wished to fight. As he landed time seemed to slow as he could see the surprise come over his first opponent and he lashed out before the man could even think of swinging his blade.

As the blood flew through the air the blonde spun kicking the man off the bridge into the water below as he charged his next opponent. As the next man ran up Naruto sidestepped the katana missing him by a hairs breath while his dagger cut through the man's arm bone and all. Spinning low the blonde dodge beneath yet another blade only for it to run his last opponent through the back to the front. As the boy came up the shocked mercenary could only see the blondes glowing silver eyes with their slit black pupils before darkness claimed him forever more.

As the two dead mercenaries fell into the river Naruto kept moving his form barely a blur to the untrained mercenaries their bodies falling into the now blood red water before they even registered to the boy. When Naruto finally stopped after dispatching the last of the mercenaries he was surprised to find himself surrounded by a thick mist he was pretty sure hadn't been there before.

As Naruto emerged from the mist both Tsunami and Inari gasped as they took in the sight of him. He was untouched and if it wasn't for the blood in his hair and dripping off his blades it would look like he'd just come back from a walk.

"Tsunami-san, Inari find some place safe and stay there, a friend's house or something. You guys keep watching over them, I have to get to the bridge."

As the words registered Tsunami could only nod as the blonde jumped off his glowing silver eyes still on her mind.

* * *

"**Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu (Summoning: Earth Release: Tracking Fang Technique)**"

The muttered words were barely heard by Kakashi himself as he slammed his blood smeared scroll on the ground. for several long moments the copy nin remained crouched as he waited for the jutsu to run its course. Suddenly the sound of howling dogs caught his ears causing the masked jounin to smirk. Almost casually Kakashi followed the sound until he found himself standing before Zabuza who currently had each of his limbs bound by ninkin, even his neck was secured by one.

Zabuza's attention however was not on the Copy nin but rather on the chakra he could literally see arching off of the other jounin's hand.

"You asked earlier how I planned on killing this is it. Not another copied technique but my sole original one."

On the other side of the bridge Haku stood over the beaten form of Uchiha Sasuke. She had removed her mask some time ago so that before she defeated him he would see the face of the one who put him in his proper place. Suddenly a loud screech filled the air causing her eyes to go wide as in the clearing mist she could see Zabuza bound by dogs and Kakashi not ten feet in front of him holding on to what appeared to be a ball of lightning. Before she could move though her eyes went wide as an arrow lodged itself into her chest.

"HAKU"

Exclaimed Naruto as he made it to the bridge just as the arrow struck her. His speed increasing he slid to a stop beside her on his knees. Across the bridge both Kakashi and Zabuza watched the boy in shock as he removed the arrow from the girl body.

"Hehehehe I told that little bastard I'd get him back." Said a voice catching the blondes attention.

Standing near the edge of the bridge was a midget in a black suit, with nappy brown hair and wearing a pair of black sunglasses. However it was the arrow launcher in his hand that caught the blondes attention.

"Gatoh, what the fuck is the meaning of this." Snarled Zabuza throwing the summoning dogs off of him.

"I've renegotiated our contract Zabuza. You see not only are you a bit too expensive for my taste, but that little bastard had the nerve to break my arm. Of course I was never going to pay you anyway, in fact I've already contacted Kiri about your presence, and with the bounty on your head it seems you'll be the one paying me instead." Said Gatoh with a smirk.

"You bastard." Said Naruto with a snarl catching everyone by surprise with his glowing silver eyes.

"This is all your fault. It's because you had the nerve to send your punk ass mercs after Tazuna's family. Cowards like you don't even deserve to breathe Furia's air let alone live on her surface."

"**Kuchiyose no jutsu**." Snarled the blonde slamming his bleeding hands to the ground.

There was a puff of smoke which quickly cleared to reveal a sight that no one expected to see. For before the blonde sat three demonic looking canine like creatures, with what appeared to be pitch black scales for skin. Along with that each of them had eyes of shining silver much like Naruto's.

"Kill." Snarled the blonde pointing at Gatoh and his group.

The three beast snarled at his command the scales covering their bodies standing on end and turning into an angry orange color. Gatoh blinked and the beast were upon him and his group of mercs ripping through them without mercy. Those with weapons would try to attack only for the scaled hides to break the blades before they were quickly killed.

Kakashi, Zabuza, Sakura, Tazuna and even the ninkin could only look on wide eyed at the slaughter as the summoned beast tore through Gatoh's group of mercs. Suddenly Naruto was in front of the brown haired midget a spiraling ball of chakra in his hand which was quickly slammed into the mans face. As the chakra sphere hit the man's body was thrown back and off the bridge as his face exploded.

Finally the last of the mercs lay dead at the feet of the summon beast as each of them approached and sat around their angered master who pet them each on the head their scales returning to their natural flat black shaping. As the three beast dismissed themselves the spell that had overtaken the bridge was broken as Sakura ran and puked her guts out over the side of the bridge along with Tazuna. Zabuza however went and collected Haku before disappearing into the mist while Kakashi warily approached his blonde student. As he neared Kakashi was surprised to note the silent tears that were falling down his cheeks.

"She told me about the attack last night." Said Naruto softly surprising Kakashi.

"I hadn't known before then but she told me. She'd found out that the guy Kaiza that Gatoh killed was Zabuza's little brother and said she could convince him to stop since family meant more to him than money. We fell asleep together and when I woke up she was gone. So I went to warn you but you were already gone. Then Gatoh sent his mercs after Tsunami and Inari and I was delayed, if I hadn't been everything could've been resolved peacefully, she wouldn't have had to die like that." Said Naruto with gritted teeth.

Kakashi said nothing merely wrapping his arm around the child he saw as a younger brother who proceeded to cry into his chest.

* * *

Two days later found the members of team Kakashi gathered in front of the newly completed bridge along with all of the townspeople. Inari and Tsunami stood beside Naruto who had been silent for the last two days and was clutching the mask that had once been Haku's. Surprising to everyone a maskless Zabuza was also there.

"You take care of that kid Kakashi." Said Zabuza earning himself a nod from the Copy Nin.

"What will you do now?" asked Kakashi

"I'll be staying here and teach these guys to defend themselves, make sure another bastard like Gatoh cant come to power." Said Zabuza getting an understanding nod from Kakashi.

"I'll be sure to mention in my report that Momochi Zabuza died and his body fell into the water." Said Kakashi getting a nod from the man.

As Kakashi and his gennin team crossed over the bridge Tazuna sighed sadly as he watched the boy that had saved his family at the cost of his lover's life.

"Father have you decided upon a name for the bridge?" asked Tsunami catching the crowds attention.

"I was thinking something like the 'Great Naruto Bridge' after the man who saved not only my country, but my family." Said the old man.

"I think that's a wonderful name." said Tsunami as the figures of the Konoha shinobi disappeared in the distance.

As the people cheered at the name of the bridge Zabuza remained silent still staring out into the distance his eyes still focused on where Naruto had once been.

'_You chose well my daughter, that boy will become great someday_.' Thought the man.

AN: That's it for this chapter. I know a lot of people were disappointed that Haku died but I had only started their relationship on a whim. Now however I plan to use her death to push Naruto forward, though it was short her role was more important than Sakura's.


	7. No Need for Meetings

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Chapter 7: Meetings

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or Tenchi, though I wish I owned Sasami, she is too cute.

Start Now:

Of all the worlds within the sphere of influence that was the Empire of Jurai, Furya was the most feared. The small planet which sat upon the edge of space and was half the size of Jurai was truly perilous. Not only was half of the planet unlivable but the gravity was also greater than any other in the system. While all others would increase by small increments over Earths, with Jurai topping it at five times Furya's gravity was ten times that of the Earths.

All this and more ran through the mind of Masaki Minaho as she stood in front of the large open wooden gates in front of the hidden leaf village. Before she or any other member of her family could step within the gates however two people landed in front of them dressed in blue pants, long sleeved blue shirts, and green vest with strange metal branded headbands upon their heads.

"Halt, state your name and purpose."

As the words registered Minaho barely held in the sigh of relief from hearing Japanese. If they spoke a different language it would have taken forever. Hell Achika had been on her ship for about eighty years before venturing out

"We are clan Masaki, I am Masaki Azusa, Emperor of Jurai. I demand to see your leader this instant."

'_Shit_.' Thought both chuunin as they eyed the group.

Both had been nervous upon spotting the group making their way towards the gates each of them dressed in clothing of better quality than even the Daimyo's. Luckily they had already called the ANBU who bless their hearts chose that moment to arrive.

* * *

Sarutobi Hizuren had been through and seen a lot in his life. Having lived through all three Shinobi Wars the man was the pinnacle of what a shinobi should aspire to be. However nothing in his carreer had ever prepared him for the merciless horde that was paperwork. The creation of pure evil before him was something that was befitting a punishment in hell, yet it tormented him on the mortal plane. His musings were cut off however as the double doors of his office were pushed open and a squad of ANBU filed in along with another six people, all of them dressed like royalty. Glancing at the time he sighed happy for the interruption by his two o'clock appointment. Standing the old man addressed the group politely introducing himself.

"I am Masaki Azusa, head of clan Masaki and Emperor of Jurai. These are my wives, Funaho, and Misaki, my mother-in-law Kimiki Seto, my son Yosho and his wife Airi. We are looking for a child by the name of Naruto, my great-grandson."

'_Shit_.' Thought Sarutobi unknowingly echoing the two chuunin guards from earlier.

* * *

While the Sandaime was in the meeting of his life the other members of the Masaki clan had taken to walking around and getting a look at the village. For Minaho it was nice to see the place where her youngest nephew grew up and the place her sister had made her third home. Along the way she couldn't help but notice the looks sent at the group but easily ignored it as she was doing with the group of masked men that was following them from the rooftops.

"Kiriko-san what can you tell me about the places my nephew frequents?" questioned Minaho after a bit of travel.

"Well from what we've learned very few people know anything about him or the places he frequents. Though everyone we spoke to knew of him most did not see him in a favorable light. What is known however is that he frequently visits a ramen stand called Ichiraku's." explained Kiriko sending an apologetic look to the woman.

"Then that's where we will head. If he is anything like his mother then he'll have a love for the stuff."

It had only taken them a few minutes of walking following Seina and his wives before they reached the small stand with a sign reading 'Ichiraku's'

"NARUTO DID WHAT!"

The shout had reached them before they even breached the threshold of the stand giving each person a short pause before Minaho moved up to the front to enter.

"I'm telling you Ino, he mowed through them like they weren't even there. I've never seen him so mad, hell I didn't even know he could get mad at least not enough to cut people down like grass." Said Sakura shivering slightly.

The trip from Nami no Kuni had been slow, and nearly uneventful. Normally when one finished a mission they traveled home at ninja speed. Kakashi however had opted to go at a slow walk as the bridge had been finished nearly a week ahead of schedule and as such gave the ninja of team seven plenty of time to make the trip. The only problem had come when they had run across a small team of bandits on the second day of their trip. The situation had been ended in less than two minutes as the blonde gennin of team seven had taken them all down with swift and brutal efficiency.

Once they had entered the village Kakashi had dismissed the group of gennin opting to turn in the mission report on his own. Naruto hadn't spared the other two even a glance before he'd leapt away. That hadn't really bothered Sakura at least not as much as Sasuke following his example and leaving her without a word. Frustrated she'd moved to head home only to run into Ino and her team along the way followed by team eight before they took a place at the ramen stand to Choji's delight.

Before anymore could be said however a full platoon of ANBU landed before the stand around the members of clan Masaki.

"Lady Minaho, the presence of your group has been requested in the council chamber, we are to escort you." Spoke the apparent leader wearing a tiger mask.

"Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Aburame, Hyuga, Haruno, you are each to report to the council chamber a full session is being called." Said the same ANBU turning to face the flaps of the stand.

"Ichiraku-san your presence has also been requested. Uzumaki…" started the captain only to pause as he looked inside.

"Where's Uzumaki?" questioned the bewildered ANBU, he'd been sure the boy would head straight there after his mission.

"Ano, N-N-Naruto-kun's in a bad mood. You should check the Hokage Monument, and if he's not there the academy roof." Said Hinata as she emerged from the stand with the other gennin.

"You know your classmate well Hyuga-sama." Said the ANBU dispatching a Neko (cat) masked operative along with an Oushi (bull) to check the requested spots.

"It's kind of weird we'd be summoned for a council meeting." Said Kiba as he exited with his small pup riding on his head.

"You are the heirs to the premier clans of our village and Haruno-san's father sits at the head of the merchant's guild. Sometimes you will be called for meetings if you are allowed to know the things discussed." Remarked one of the ANBU this one in a tori (bird) mask.

* * *

It had taken twenty minutes for majority of those called for to gather within the large chamber reserved for council meetings within the Hokage Tower. It was rare for a meeting of the full council to be called happening usually only twice a year. For them to be summoned nowhere near those times spoke volumes of itself. As everyone filed in Sarutobi Hizuren watched them enter the room calmly while ignoring the looks sent at the unfamiliar people within the room. He of course had known the group was large but the multitude of people did actually surprise him somewhat.

Naruto was the last to enter and when he did the old man was not surprised to see his eyes widen, though he was surprised when he settled into a neutral glare before he moved to the empty seat Sarutobi motioned to that was beside him. Many eyes narrowed on the blonde who was unknowingly sitting in the Senju seat.

"I'm happy everyone could make it on such short notice and in a prompt manner." Started the Sandaime sparing a glance over at Kakashi who stood with the jounin sensei's of the rookie gennin teams along with Maito Gai, Iruka, and Gekkyo Hayate.

"The position of Hokage is not the glamorous position that everyone dreams off growing up. Instead it is a stress filled position that eats away at you over time. It is a position of sacrifice that never stops until your dying breath. In my time as Hokage I've made choices that I've often regretted that even went against my own instincts for the good of the village.

I missed seeing my children grow up, I was pulled away from my sons wedding, my grandsons birth. After the infraction of the peace treaty by Kumo eight years ago my heart screamed for war yet I opted against it due to the state of our village after the Kyuubi attack. I allowed a potential successor to commit seppaku for saving his comrades over finishing a mission, something we had always stressed since our villages founding. Perhaps the thing I regret most however beating even Orochimaru's betrayal is a lie I told over a decade ago."

As he was speaking all eyes zoomed onto the old man who for the first time many were seeing as a fellow human and not as the invincible warrior he was said to be.

"That was a dark time for the village. The Kyuubi had just attacked and many lives had been lost including that of the Yondaime's. It hadn't been hard to make that lie as I had done it once before. I also had no intention of these truths coming out, at least any time soon. In fact I had hoped I'd be able to put this off for at least another eight years but with our current situation I no longer have that choice.

As some of you may know and remember twenty years ago a young woman entered our village as a refugee of the destroyed Uzu no Kuni. She was hailed as a prodigy of kenjutsu and a water manipulation given the nickname of The Red Death due to her long red hair, her name was Kushina. Over the next eight years I learned that she was a very private person always managing to steer a conversation away from her past. Throughout that time she had stayed in touch with Minato who was a member of the team that brought her to the village.

They kept their relationship secret and after the war was over decided to marry. A year later Kyuubi attack only a week after the birth of their son. Somehow the two were able to come up with a plan to beat the fox, Kushina would hold it immobile and Minato would seal it within their son."

Immediately after he said this several eyes widened in shock at the revelation as many of the adults within the room snapped their heads in Naruto's direction who was seated calmly within his seat surprising everyone.

"Before they left Kushina gave me a set of instructions regarding their son. The first thing she told me however was that the person she presented herself as wasn't who she was as Kushina didn't actually exist. She told me that one day people would come searching for her using her true name and that these people would be members of her clan most likely her parents. This however would only be after Naruto made gennin.

After they left the fox was killed instead of sealed, which we had thought for years until Naruto told us otherwise. During the battle Naruto woke up and somehow made it possible to kill the beast which Minato did. Minato died sealing the beast within the Shinigami's stomach and Kushina died after using the last of her energy to place a seal on Naruto to seal away his abilities which had nearly killed him that night.

I remember Tobirama-sensei once telling me that the best way to hide something is to put it in plain sight. I made the announcement about Naruto holding the Kyuubi, hoping you all would follow the plan and see him as the hero who stopped the beast, then placed him within the orphanage. I knew the other hidden village would send people soon to investigate and with Naruto in the orphanage instead of with myself, Jiraiya or Tsunade no one made the obvious connection between him and Minato, especially not Iwa. We were in no shape to be fighting a war with them at the time.

I knew this would work because I did the same thing with Minato. Outside of myself only a handful of people knew my sensei had taken a lover nor that she was expecting. When he died and I was appointed Hokage I convinced her to let the boy go by her name. I had told her, the child would be the future of the village. I knew if the world knew that there was an heir to the Senju clan the child would be dead within the first week.

However coming from a no name family no one would expect the child to amount to anything past a chuunin rank. They would never expect them to have the potential to become a Kage. Still even I never expected the emergence of the 'Yellow Flash'. That man won us the Third War when he revealed the Hiraishin to the world.

I knew Naruto possessed that same potential, perhaps even more. This was even displayed in his pranks the trap making genius of his father and the mischievousness of his mother. Who else but their son would think that since no one wanted to train them he would make them do so. For years he made our shinobi from gennin to ANBU train him forcing them to help him improve his trap making skills, stealth, speed, and agility."

"You said you wished to keep this secret perhaps another eight years. Why break the silence now?" questioned Aburame Shibi in the monotone his clan is known for.

"It was one of the promises I made to Kushina, that once those coming for Naruto arrived I would make the announcement of his heritage. Until that time however the secret would be kept." Explained the Sandaime calmly.

"And who are they exactly that we would hand over such a valuable member of our village!" demanded Koharu.

"You will do so because I command it. Otherwise I'd reduce this entire place to ash." Stated Azusa calmly ignoring the killing intent that suddenly filled the room.

"I am Masaki Azusa, head of the Masaki Clan, and Emperor of the royal kingdom of Jurai. From what I've learned from Sarutobi-san about the treatment of one of my clan I'd have no problem destroying this little rat hole."

Before anymore could be said three masked figures materialized around him swinging swords down onto him. Just before the struck each of them disappeared in a blur only for a resounding crash to echo through the room. Deep guttural growling had them all turning towards the sound only to find the three masked shinobi pinned to the ground by demonic looking canine like creatures their scaled flesh standing on end and glowing an angry orange color made all the more fearsome by their glowing silver eyes.

"That's enough Naruto. I think you've made your point."

At the words the blonde whistled causing the three hounds to snarl once more in their faces before backing off towards Naruto their scaled flesh lying down and turning darker which each step until they lied flat and were pitch black.

"Amazing I had thought the Furyan Hellhounds had gone extinct." Said Washu making her presence known as she moved over to the three.

"And you would be?" questioned the blonde politely.

"Hikubi Washu, at your service, the greatest scientific mind ever."

"I've heard of you rumor had it you disappeared some time ago, about a century give or take a decade r so. Unfortunately you're correct, these three girls are the last." Said Naruto patting one of the three on head as the red head studied another."

"What exactly are those things?" asked the Inuzuka head eyeing the three beast carefully.

"Do you know nothing of the creature's native to this planet. Furyan Hellhounds are Lupine/Reptilia hybrids best known for their speed and strength which they are bred for. They are classified among the most dangerous creatures to ever live." Explained Washu shortly.

"Not that this isn't interesting, Lady Washu, but we must get back on topic." Stated a new voice breaking her away from her discovery.

"Of course Lord Katsuhito." Said Washu retaking her seat.

"As Lord Azusa was trying to explain before he was interrupted, Naruto is a prince of Jurai a member of the empire in which you live. Before you ask the Jurai Empire is not a collection of countries but of planets, yours setting upon the northern edge of its space." Explained the old man calmly ignoring the incredulous looks sent his way by the members of Konoha's council.

"Furyans are known as the greatest warriors to ever live among the galaxy, so it is only natural the planet would sit on the edge where any trouble would pass through us." Said Naruto locking eyes with the old man.

"That is correct now the reason for this meeting, is that we would like to welcome you back into the society in which Furyans helped found." Explained Funaho shocking the group.

"Welcome us back?" questioned Nara Shikaku showing actual interest for once.

"Correct. However that is a story for another time, when the rest of the leaders arrive here next month. According to your Hokage you host a Chuunin Exam here beginning this week. The day before the final exam however the leaders of this world will meet here to discuss the situation. When we leave the planet you're children will be offered the chance to come along to study alongside Naruto." Said Funaho calmly.

"While I'm sure you have much more you wish to discuss, our time must end for now so you can digest what you've learned. However information packets have already been delivered to your homes for you to look over in private. We ask that none of this information however is discussed at all outside of this room, failure to comply will result in revoking the offer made to you. This means the bonus's you would get would no longer happen, and when we take Naruto he won't come back." Explained Misaki getting nods from the room.

"Naruto, perhaps you should freshen up before I take you to see your parents." Said Sarutobi.

At that Naruto stood and moved to leave before pausing to face the Juraian's getting a nod from Funaho.

"There will be trouble later." Said the Seto almost as soon as the room was clear.

"They'll be marriage proposals in my office before the day ends." Finished the old man.

* * *

When Naruto returned to the tower he found he wasn't the only one to do so. Not only had he made a return trip but the heads of the Yamanaka, Inuzuka, and Hyuga clans as well. seeing them seated calmly in the lobby of the Sandaime's office told him the old man was most likely still busy with the Juraians. With this in mind Naruto made his way towards and through the doors nodding towards the ANBU member who allowed him past.

Within the office Naruto found that true to his suspicion the old man was indeed still entertaining the Juraians, though whatever they were discussing was placed on hold as he made his way in.

"Ah Naruto my boy, I'm glad you could join us." Said Hizuren with a smile which the blonde tried to return.

"I'm sorry for earlier but it was something your mother asked of me before she passed." Explained the old man getting a nod from the youth.

"This is a larger group than what I anticipated would come." Said Naruto calmly as he eyed the large group of people.

"How long have you known?" asked Naruto eyeing the man calmly.

"The whole time. Your mother explained the truth of her past to a select few people when she found out she was pregnant with you. Those people were of course your father, your godfather Jiraiya, Tsunade, and of course myself. Of course she also made me swear a blood oath to not reveal the secret of your heritage until the day came that her family came to retrieve you."

A slight shifting had Naruto turning and faster than most could blink the bladed edge of a kunai was pressed into the flesh of a woman's neck.

"And who's throat is this?" asked Naruto.

"That would be my daughter Ryoko." Said Washu.

Ryoko herself was wide eyed her form still half materialized as she held a box of food in her hands. It had been a long time since someone had been able to since her upon approach like the blonde had just done.

"Ryoko, the space pirate. You'll find Furyans don't take surprise entrances well." Said Naruto removing the blade from the woman's throat and sheathing it.

"Well allow me to properly introduce you." Said the Sandaime hoping to break up the tension.

"Naruto-kun, as you may know this is Masaki Azuza-sama, his first wife Lady Funaho, and his second Lady Misaki, along with her mother Lady Seto. They as you may or may not know make up Jurai's high council. Next we have Prince Yosho and Airi, your grandparents and your aunt Lady Minaho. Princess's Aeka and Sasami, Yosho's sisters, and your cousins Tennyo and Tenchi."

At their introduction each person nodded their head, smiled, or waved in greeting which the blonde returned. The for Yosho he had changed from an old man to younger one surprising the blonde who hadn't been able to detect the henge, which was strange considering his advanced one.

"Over her we have Yamada Seina, the third prince of Jurai. With him are his wives Kiriko, Amane, Neju, and Balta Ryoko. Of course you remember Hakubi Washu, and her daughter Ryoko, and this is Kuramitsu Mihoshi. Is that everyone?" questioned the old man at the end.

"Well everyone aside for these two. These are also my daughters Ryo-ohki, and Fuku." Said Washu motioning to the two creatures in her lap.

Naruto blinked at the sight and words before looking towards the woman for an explanation.

"Ryo-ohki and Fuku, take the form of Cabbit's, which are cats mixed with rabbits. Ryoko, who was created first was created by using my ovum, which gives her the more human appearance. While I didn't use this specific organ with Ryo-ohki and Fuku I did use my genetics which still makes them my daughters as in their other forms they look similar to Ryoko and I." explained Washu causing both Naruto and Hizuren to blink before both simply nodded.

"Now then there is also the matter of your inheritance to discuss." Said Hizuren catching the blondes attention.

"Your father, as not only Hokage but this village's seal master had been able to accumulate quite a bit of wealth. This includes the titles to several properties including the apartment complex you live in. In fact your apartment was actually the one your parents shared. Both your parents had collected a vast library of techniques as well all of which, including your fathers scroll of Forbidden Techniques, have been given to your grandfather for you.

I've also contacted your godfather, who has been on a very high priority S-class assignment for the last decade. In fact if it wasn't for what he's been able to learn and keep his targets from learning you'd have probably died long ago. Anyway he will be returning to help prepare you for the Chuunin Exams. As for the wealth I set it up in a private shinobi account, which requires fresh blood and chakra to verify your identity for withdrawls, where it has been gathering interest for the last 13 years.

Unfortunately your mothers sword I've been unable to recover. Honestly I have no idea where she hid it, but she guaranteed you would be the only one who can get to it. Along with that you will also find a scroll written by your father detailing the Hiraishin no jutsu and the tools needed to accomplish it. Though before that I'd recommend studying up on seals, as without the knowledge of them you could actually kill yourself trying the technique.

Finally, neither of your parents were buried in the Hokage's graveyard as is customary. Instead your mother insisted they be taken to her ship. From what she said it would preserve their bodies so that they could be given proper burials. As such when they died their bodies immediately disappeared most likely to her ship, if you know where that is." Finished the old man.

"Now I'm sure you would like to get to know your newfound family so don't let me hold you up." Said the old man after a few minutes of silence.

"Very well then. I shall speak with you soon."

With the said Azusa stood to his feet before he along with everyone aside from the Sandaime simply faded from the room.

AN: That's it the meeting chapter is done, now everyone can stop stressing me about it. Seriously this was probably the most important part of the story so I decided to give it it's own chapter and it just grew on its own. Anyway let me know what you think, now flames, but constructive criticsm is welcome. Till next time, LATER.


	8. The Truth

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Chapter 8: The Truth

AN: Hello all I'm back again with another update. Firstly as always I want to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. This chapter is actually longer than I intended but it practically wrote itself. Also just a warning but manga chapters 500 through maybe 504 are in here so be prepared for spoilers if you haven't reached that point yet. The purpose of this chapter is to tell the truth of what really happened to the Kyuubi as until now everything I've placed down has been speculation from one party or another hence the title. Hopefully this chapter will answer some of the questions you guys have. Anyway that said here's the chapter.

Start Now:

Of all the ships within Jurai's fleet Masaki Azusa's 'Kirito' is the only first generation treeship still in circulation. While he couldn't boast to claim to being the only one bonded with a first generation tree Kirito was the only one still capable of travel. The only other person bonded with a first generation tree was Yosho, however his Funaho had long since taken root on the planet he himself crash landed on.

Kirito itself was a massive vessel its length alone equaling the size of three football fields combined. Like all Jurai made ships Kirito's exterior was made of a fine wood customized to support the rigors of space travel. The interior was equally impressive to the exterior, for inside of the ship a massive forest could be seen with trees scattered all around. At the moment the ship was hovering just outside of the planets atmosphere giving the perfect view of space. It was here that Naruto had spent the last two days getting to know his mothers family.

He had been given one of the many guest rooms aboard the vessel to stay in for the time being. The room was rather plain containing a single bed and dresser. However the interesting thing was that instead of walls large vines surrounded the bed to block off the rooms. The bed itself was King sized and had a curtain surrounding it to provide privacy.

The previous day the Sandaime had taken the group to the Hero's museum. Naruto had actually never been there before as not only was the place guarded but he'd never been allowed to step foot inside. The academy had taken his class once as a field trip but Naruto had been denied by the academy staff the day of the trip for some crap reason he'd long since forgotten. Anyway the museum was a dedication to all of the Hero's of Konoha of every generation, not only the Hokage's but anyone who had made a significant impact.

Naruto's parents were two such people who had been given entrance. Naruto had been pleasantly surprised to find that Hizuren had made it so their galleries were right beside each other. Each gallery had a life sized stone statue of its focus as well as a colored picture on the wall. Beside the picture was a list of accomplishments and a large book rested beneath it to tell the story for each accomplishment. His fathers held a replica of one of his special three pronged kunai though this one was without the seal tag around it. The colored picture however was of him at his inauguration ceremony wearing his robes of office.

His mothers possessed a replica of her sword which was a daito. The blade was solid black; the guard surprisingly is shaped like the kanji marking for 'ban' or 'full'. The hilt is also black but with red diamond markings designed on it. Finally a short length of chain with a broken link dangled from the base of the swords hilt like a tassel. Her colored picture however was of her sitting at Ichiraku's with a smiling Teuchi behind her while a young Ayame was smiling up at her as her hands rested on her stomach which was clearly showing her pregnancy.

After the trip to the museum they had followed the Sandaime to the memorial. Hizuren had explained that when their bodies had disappeared they had decided to add the two to the memorial anyway. He had also commented that it was a good thing their bodies had disappeared as apparently someone had broken into the Hokage's graveyard a few years back and he only knew because the graves of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage's had been disturbed.

Naruto had spent the remaining time after that within Kirito with his aunt Minaho and his grandmother Airi as they told him stories about the younger Achika. Hearing that his mother and her twin had both had a fondness for pranks had put a smile on his face and prompted him to regal the two with the stories of a few of his own more well known, and even some of the not so well known pranks.

He had also spent some time getting to know the other members of the family, and had apparently surprised them when they caught him during his early morning training as he shadow sparred. Today however he found himself a bit worried as he'd have to return back to the village for another council meeting. Apparently Azusa had given the leafs council two days to digest the information before they would reconvene. Naruto however was nervous, having grown up in the village he knew just how quickly information traveled through the place and would not be surprised if everyone in the village knew of his status now or at least his parentage.

At the moment the blonde was dressing himself for the day ahead, after spending some time in the bath. He had to admit though he was impressed as the bath was more like a giant onsen than anything else, and having never experienced an onsen before he found the experience rather enjoyable. His grandfather had also decided to join him as well using it as an opportunity for them to get to know each other. He found that Yosho had a very calming aura surrounding him that just made you relax.

During their talking Naruto had explained a bit about his childhood and about his brief time with Haku. The talk had been very therapeutic for the blonde as Yosho was a very good listener and had eventually helped the blonde come to terms with the girl's death. He had explained that what he was feeling was natural and that since he'd gone so long without any friends his reaction to seeing one die was understandable.

He had also given the blonde some helpful advice in regards to the family. Like to never call Airi his grandmother in her presence as the woman was apparently quite vain. He also informed him to watch out for Seto as she liked to play matchmaker, though whenever she did the relationships seemed to work out somehow. He also told him to try and avoid getting involved in one of Ayeka's and Ryoko's fights as they tended to lash out.

Shaking himself from his musings he looked up just in time to see Funaho enter the room. He hadn't spent much time with the woman, as she was busy the last few days along with Misaki, Seto, and Azusa but he looked forward to spending some time with her in the future.

"Are you ready?" questioned the woman calmly.

"Just about."

With his return delivered the blonde reached to the side before pulling a harness out and securing a harness to his legs each carrying one of his Saber Claws. Finally he grabbed his hitae-tae off of the dresser and secured it to his forehead. Funaho sighed seeing the weapons the blonde carried on his person. It seemed that everyone in this village that wasn't a civilian carried blades on their person. Funaho didn't like it, in fact she hated unnecessary violence, but this being Furya it didn't surprise her that their culture revolved around violence.

Still she had to admit that the walking armory that was her great-grandson looked an awful lot like his father from the pictures she'd seen of the man. In fact she would honestly say they could've been mistaken for brothers with how closely they resembled one another. Abandoning the thoughts for a moment upon seeing he was ready she led him out of the room and through the ship to meet up with the rest of the group.

* * *

For the second time in as many days the members of the entire village council were gathered in the council chambers of the Hokage Tower. Noticeably absent however were the gennin that were in attendance the last time though the jounin were still in attendance. Naruto eyed the council members suspiciously especially the three elders that had at one point wished him dead that now wished him to stay within the village for their own gains. He was especially wary of Danzo or 'The Mummy' as he was often called behind his back. He could remember the man had tried to befriend him once but by that point Naruto had already been jaded and wanted no part of him or what he offered to him.

"Alright then I assume that everyone has had time to read and review the information that was delivered previously." Stated Funaho bringing the room's attention to her.

No one spoke at that merely nodding that they had. Naruto frowned at that though, he had no idea of what proceedings were taking place and it worried him. He didn't trust these people especially the civilians and the elders, he was positive they would try something to turn things into their benefit.

"Now then the purpose of today's meeting isn't to speak about the future, or even the present. Today's meeting is about the past, specifically what happened to Achika, or as you know her Kushina." Explained Funaho causing several people to raise eyebrows in curiosity.

"That's just it no one knows what happened. Kushina-sama's body like Yondaime-sama's was never recovered. We always believed that they were over exposed to the Kyuubi's youki and their bodies couldn't handle it." Explained one of the civilian council members.

"That's just it you're speaking of a guess. We are here to determine the truth of the matter. Lady Washu if you would please." Stated Seto as she motioned to the red headed scientist.

"Of course Seto-dono." Said Wasu as she stood from her position and walked so that she was standing directly behind Naruto who was seated beside the Sandaime in the Senju seat.

"What we will be doing today is watching the memory of what happened. While none of you may know what happened the secret is surely buried within young Naruto." Stated Washu surprising everyone including the blonde gennin.

"What we will be using is Naruto's genetic memory. Now it is a little known fact that the memories of our ancestors are encoded within our DNA. This of course is the origin of what you call Kekki Genkai. After a bit of research on my part I came to discover that thanks to chakra you have developed the ability to pass not only your physical attributes but your earned abilities to your children, provided your body has mastered them to a suitable level of course.

However memories, even genetic ones degrade over time. Still for this we are only going up one generation and Achika was still young only 254 years old when she passed." Explained Washu.

"I'm sorry did you say 254." Said Inoichi in shock.

"Indeed like I said rather young. However this is merely an estimate based on the fact that Naruto-dono and Tenchi-dono are six years apart and their mothers were twins." Explained Washu seemingly oblivious to the reaction produced by announcing Achika's age.

"So basically what I'll be doing is separating Naruto's DNA code, to see both his father's and his mothers. After that we'll delve into Achika's so that we can see what happened to her." Said Washu finishing her explanation.

With that she sat a yellow ball like object on top of Naruto's head. Barely two seconds after she sat it there a pair of short legs extended out as two circles taking the form of feet for the machine attached themselves to each side of his head. Washu seeing this sat back on a chair that no one had noticed was there before. Motioning outwards with her hands a transparent screen appeared before her along with a keyboard equally transparent.

"Alright Naruto-dono in order for this to work I'm going to need to put you in a state of sleep. You will still see everything we do but this way it's not painful for you." Explained Washu getting a nod from the blonde.

It took barely a few moments before Naruto's eyes closed and his breathing steadied signifying sleep. However as soon as he did what many of the shinobi recognized as a seal appeared upon Naruto's head which quickly shattered with the sound of broken glass. At the same time the eyes of the ball like machine on his head lit up before projecting outwards before hitting a wall and showing and a picture appeared before them.

Mindscape:

Naruto blinked as he found himself standing within a sewer with water coming up to just past his mid calves. The place was dark the only light coming from the glowing pipes above him, some blue and some red. Looking around he found a large golden gate standing in front of him that disappeared into the darkness above him.

"Hello Naru-chan."

The voice forced him to turn and his breath caught in his throat. Before him stood a woman he recognized easily. She stood at a height of 5'8" and appeared to be about 22 years old. She had long bright red hair that fell past her waist stopping in her calf area with strands framing her face and violet eyes. She wore a pair of black pants that fit to her like spandex and a long sleeved two-toned shirt with the sleeves, neck, and collar area black while the torso was a burnt orange color. The shirt had a small zipper that zipped it up from the top of her chest to mid neck.

"Kaa-san!" exclaimed the blonde in shock.

Naruto had barely gotten the word out of his mouth before he found himself engulfed within her arms. Naruto tensed almost immediately at the contact before relaxing into her embrace. Still overwhelmed with joy as she was the woman felt it and frowned before pulling back to look him in the eye.

"There is so much sadness and pain in your eyes." Stated the woman after barely a few moments causing Naruto to flinch.

"The villagers must not have treated you well. I've seen that look in your eyes before, it's always held by the same kind of people. Only someone that has experienced the hell that is true isolation can have those eyes. I'm so sorry sochi; I never wished this upon you."

After saying this the woman pulled him into an even tighter hug. This time however Naruto didn't tense and even wrapped his arms around him as a single unknown tear left his eye. Finally after a few moments the woman pulled back exposing her own tear stained cheeks which Naruto was quick to wipe off getting a smile from his mother.

"Now there is much to explain and not a lot of time my son. For starters this place is what as known as your mindscape, basically it is a physical manifestation of your mind. Everything in your past leads to its development. It's a sewer because you lack knowledge, not to say you are stupid but that there is still much for you to learn. The water beneath us are the tears you refuse to shed which apparently is quite a lot.

As for how I'm here that would be because of a seal I placed on you when you were a newborn. You see I knew that one day you would try and access this place and when you did the seal would break and allow us to speak. I assume you've been made aware of your true heritage now right?"

"Yes, Yosho-oh informed me a few months ago. The key was sealed in the forbidden scroll and I sort of stole the scroll and found it." Explained Naruto causing Kushina to blink.

"That's odd; the key was never suppose to be there. Jiraiya should have held onto it until you graduated at which point he was supposed to present it to you." Said the woman with a frown.

"Jiraiya hasn't been in the village since I was three. According to the Sarutobi-jiji Jiraiya was assigned a high priority mission. Basically he's been out of the village checking up on threats to me and eliminating them." Explained Naruto causing Kushina to frown.

"Right anyway my past is a bit more complicated than what you've been made to believe. There was certain information that I didn't give Yosho-oh personally because it would have been sent out with all the rest of the information and there was a high probability of interception." Stated the woman catching the blonde's attention causing him to focus upon her intently.

"You look so much like your father; you even have his serious face." Said Kushina with a smile before returning to her serious demeanor.

"My past like I said is complicated and I never wrote anything about it down. The only people I ever told the full truth were your father, the Sandaime, Sarutobi Hizuren and his wife Biwako who was the midwife during your birth." Explained Kushina.

"As you know I was born Masaki Achika, daughter of Masaki Yosho Jurai and Masaki Airi. However I am also Uzumaki Kushina daughter of Uzumaki Sentaro and sole heir of the Uzumaki main family." Said the woman causing Naruto to blink.

"How is that possible?" asked Naruto

"That would be my doing." Said a new yet familiar voice.

As Naruto turned to the new voice he found a familiar feminine figure standing before him. A pair of familiar blue eyes greeted him with mirth dancing within them as the woman eyed him in return. Her golden blonde lochs of hair still framed her perfect figure enticing him for but a moment as his eyes focused on her breast before he managed to pull his eyes away.

"Kyra." Greeted the blonde in acknowledgement.

"You know each other?" questioned Kushina as she eyed the other woman she'd never before seen.

"We met briefly in Nami no Kuni. Her name is Kyra, she is Furya given spiritual form." Explained the blonde shortly.

"So care to explain how my mother's situation was your doing?" asked Naruto.

"Well you see Naruto you have a destiny ahead of you, a grand one. Your birth was always assured and always to Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina." Started Kyra causing both mother and son to narrow their eyes.

"But then something strange happened. A concussive wave shot through the entire galaxy as if it was all about to be destroyed. In the end Masaki Achika's ship crash landed here on Furya just before Konoha was founded. Normally the ship would have been completely trashed with the way her ship was hit, but Achika is under Tsunami-kaa-sama's protection so I ensured she survived though her ship was still badly damaged.

Anyway after that about 80 or so years went by. By this point the hidden village system has been adopted and the Third Ninja War is under way. As scheduled Uzumaki Kushina is being transported to Konoha when all of a sudden her transport is attacked and everyone killed, which wasn't supposed to happen. Sure her transport was supposed to be attacked but they were supposed to make it to the village intact, with Kushina now inspired to become a kunoichi. Instead everyone including Kushina was dead or dying.

I was at loss, Kushina was needed to bring about your birth, and she would also be the new age inspiration for your generation of Kunoichi. Then I remembered Achika was on the planet and sleeping, ironically enough not far from where Kushina lay dying. So I woke her up and guided her to Kushina as she went about her exploration. Thankfully Achika inherited Tsunami-kaa-sama's compassion and was more than willing to help save the girl. With that I put them through what is known as assimilation which basically means I fused them together.

Of course in the beginning their minds would remain separated as Achika was a grown woman and Kushina was still a child. As they grew older however their minds would merge until when Kushina turned seventeen and their minds fully merged. So that is how she can be both Kushina and Achika, I did however leave the ability for her to switch between them at her leisure as soon as her minds merged." Explained Kyra.

"So it was your voice I heard that day." Said Kushina as she looked up.

"Hai, however since you didn't have a connection with Furya you couldn't see me." Said Kyra

"Okay so what now?" questioned Naruto after a few moments.

"Now your mother can explain what really happened that night." Said Kyra solemnly.

"Very well, sochi what do you know about the night the Kyuubi attacked the village?" questioned Kushina.

"There's not much to know it appeared out of nowhere and attacked us. It woke me up I blasted it and dad dragged it into the Shinigami's stomach." Said Naruto causing both Kushina and Kyra to blink.

"Sochi, who told you that?" questioned Kushina.

"Yosho-oh did, months ago when she told me how you died." Answered Naruto.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised you were wrong. Yosho-oh is badly damaged she couldn't see what happened so most likely deduced an explanation." Said Kushina with a sigh.

With that sigh however her figure wavered before she changed. Her hair went from bright red to a midnight blue almost black color. Her eyes went from violet to brown, other than those differences however she looked exactly the same.

"The truth is Kyuubi didn't attack so much as it was released and forced to attack. You see Naruto the Kyuubi has been in Konoha's possession since the very beginning. During the battle that created what is now called the 'Valley of the End' Uchiha Madara summoned it to aid him. However Senju Hashirama was able to stop it and defeat Madara thanks to his Mokuton ability. It was because of this that Hashirama was named as Shodai Hokage and not Uchiha Madara who was assumed to have been killed in the battle.

Whatever the case Konoha took claim of the Kyuubi, and so that no one could try that again it was sealed away. Now you should know that the Uzumaki Clan and Senju clan are distant relatives, in fact many believe that the Senju was a branch family of the Uzumaki. Regardless are clans were close and as such Konoha and Uzushio were close. So close in fact that Uzumaki Mito married Senju Hashirama, and even sealed the Kyuubi into herself becoming Kyuubi's first vessel." Explained Achika causing Naruto to blink in shock at this revelation.

"As an Uzumaki clan member she possessed a very high knowledge of Fuuinjutsu, as Uzumaki's were known for their skill in the sealing arts. However unknown to most the Uzumaki clan also had a very special Kekki Genkai. The bloodline was so special they couldn't come up with a proper name and simply called it 'special chakra'.

You see the Uzumaki clan was blessed with large chakra reserves, but as a trade off had poor control. Whatever the case an Uzumaki's chakra is more potent than anyone else's. Along with this they possessed what was called 'Perfect Bodies'. They could naturally heal wounds quicker than most with just an application of chakra to the wounded area. Also if mastered they could control their bodies to the point that they could change their age making them younger or older whatever they wished and then if they wanted to freeze it there. It was because of this that Uzumaki Mito lived for well over one hundred years; she didn't die until well into the term of the Sandaime Hokage, she was 130 years old if I remember correctly. She is only one example of the clan and it is because of the long lives they lived their village was nicknamed 'The Village of Longevity'.

Anyway when I, and by that I mean Kushina, arrived in Konoha it was for the purpose of becoming the next Kyuubi vessel. You see Mito-san was dying by that point and trusted no one but her kin to guard over the fox. Kushina was naturally terrified of such a prospect she was still a child and had heard horror stories about the monster fox as it was called. Anyway Mito managed to calm and reassure her and Kushina agreed to become her successor. Mito however told her of a secret to successfully holding back the fox before the transfer. That secret was that in order to properly hold back the Kyuubi and its hatred you must first fill the vessel with love. Do that and even the host of the Kyuubi may live a happy life." Said Achika.

"Also something you should know about Kushina, when she was younger she was very insecure. This was mostly due to teasing from other children and as such she developed a tomboyish personality. On her first day of the academy she beat up every member of her class that teased her because of her appearance.

One day she was kidnapped by Kumo shinobi, who wanted to breed her so that they could make use of her special chakra, even though it was they who annihilated Uzushio in the first place. Regardless those fools were and probably still are bloodline hungry and as such kidnapped Kushina. Even with her chakra cut off she left a trail by leaving strands of her hair to mark her path, a trail that was eventually picked up by Namikaze Minato who was one of her former classmates.

This impressed Kushina who had actually believed him to have been a wimp, that plus his admittance to liking her hair, which she actually hated, had been enough to convince her to go out with him. When she turned 18 our assimilation was already completed and our minds bonded and by Kushina's 22nd year we had fallen for Minato and married him and you were conceived.

However unknown to most there was a flaw in the Kyuubi's seal. The flaw was that the seal would weaken during childbirth. I was led outside of the village where a place had been secured and ready for your birth. Now my pregnancy lasted ten months as due to the fact that I was a jinchuuriki there is an extra month added You were born a week later than projected but when the time came Sarutobi Biwako acted as the midwife while your father focused on maintaining the seal." Said Achika sadly.

"You can let him watch the rest, that's why he's here." Said Kyra.

"Come again." Said Achika blinking.

"Basically your family wants to know what happened and are using Naruto's genetic memory to see it." Said Kyra with a shrug before she snapped her fingers and a bright flash lit the place up.

* * *

_When the light cleared he was standing on a village street. Looking around him for a moment he easily spotted the Hokage Monument with its four heads displayed. Around him were buildings and people many of which he didn't recognize. Looking around he blinked in shock finding his mother standing in front of him under her Kushina guise next to a rather old woman, and a black haired woman carrying a baby, an Uchiha from the crest he could see on the woman's arm. He instantly recognized the scene as a memory that Kyra most likely triggered._

"_Didn't you have a girl?" questioned Kushina bringing Naruto's attention to the conversation._

"_Nope, another boy." Said the woman with a smile._

"_So what's his name Mikoto."_

"_Sasuke." Said the newly named Mikoto with a smile._

"_He has the same name as Hizuren's father." Stated the older woman _

"_Yes I'm sure he'll become a fine shinobi one day. Your almost due yourself aren't you Kushina, you should pick a name before it's too late." Said Mikoto._

"_Ah we've already got one, 'Naruto'. He and Sasuke-kun will be in the same grade, I hope they'll become good friends." Said Kushina._

'_Yeah right, sorry mom but I'm about two steps away from killing that teme. All I need is to figure out a way to do it without getting blamed for it. Maybe a genjutsu to make him write a suicide note then drowning him.' Thought Naruto before shaking his head in a negative. He sucked at genjutsu, that plan would never work for him._

"_By the way, does it hurt? Like bad?"questioned Kushina in a whisper bringing Naruto back into the conversation._

"_Well, well, even you're afraid of something. I'll be damned." Said Mikoto with a chuckle._

"_Come on already!" exclaimed the old woman before physically dragging Kushina away getting a laugh from Mikoto who waved her friend goodbye._

"_Remember we need to keep your birth classified. Try not to talk to anyone while we're on the move, even your friends." Said the old woman quietly looking at Kushina once they reached a private spot._

"_Right sorry about that Biwako-san." Said Kushina rubbing the back of her head nervously._

"_So that's were I get it from." Mused Naruto quietly._

"_The fact that we're leaving the village for this is classified as well! Don't go screaming your head off, even when the contractions start." Said Biwako._

"_R-right." _

_With Kushina saying this there was another flash before Naruto found himself in a new spot._

"_OH GOD IT HURTS!" _

_Naruto winced at the high volume of the scream but quickly found himself focusing in on the scene. He could see his mother laid down in front of him her long red hair positioned in such a way it looked like a flame. By her side he could see his father with his arms outstretched over her stomach where a large seal could be seen pulsing. Biwako however was positioned on the end between her legs were thankfully a blanket was covering her as their were some things he just didn't want to know._

"_I, uh, I've never heard her in so much pain. Are, are you sure she'll be alright?" questioned Minato obviously trying to hold his composure._

"_SHE'S FINE JUST KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE SEAL!" demanded Biwako not even glancing at him._

"_But she's…" _

"_Good lord you're the Yondaime Hokage! Don't panic! This is why women have babies, you men can't handle pain." Said Biwako eyeballing Minato._

_Before anything else could be said however the woman they were fussing over screamed again as her form went hazy, her red hair turning midnight blue and her eyes brown. Her face was covered in sweat as well as holding a grimace of pain._

"_Damn she couldn't hold the transformation." Said Minato though he was still focused on the seal._

"_Don't worry about that I expected this. Besides she's stronger in her natural form."_

'_Damn this bastard fox is strong. I can feel it struggling to break out.' Thought Minato before focusing more chakra through his hands. Naruto however was surprised in that he could hear the thoughts as if they were spoken._

"_Hang in there Achika, you and Naruto will make it through this." Said Minato._

"_THE HEADS OUT! WE'RE ALMOST THERE ACHIKA." Said Biwako._

"_KEEP GOING ACHIKA-SAN." Said Biwako's assistant who also happened to be a member of the Sarutobi clan._

"_Naruto you get out here; and Kyuubi you stay put." Said Minato sweat covering his form before he pushed a little more chakra out of him. _

_Achika let out another pain filled scream before another one ripped through the air following right after._

"_GET THE HOT WATER." Demanded Biwako with her assistant immediately complying. _

"_Congratulations it's a healthy baby boy." Said the assistant holding the baby. _

_Naruto blinked as he saw something on his newborn self that immediately caught his attention. On the each of the baby's cheeks were three whisker-like markings, markings he was told were injuries from his confrontation with the fox._

"_Look at me, I'm a father." Said Minato as he went about wiping the tears from his face. _

"_Naruto, I finally get to meet you." Said Achika as she looked at her crying baby._

"_Ok Achika I know you're exhausted from the birth but we've gotta get the Kyuubi completely sealed away." Said Minato getting an understanding nod from his wife who took a breath and shifted back into Kushina._

_Before they could act on it however the sound of bodies dropping reached them along with a gurgling sound. Turning towards the sound the two were horrified to see Biwako and her assistant both on the ground with a kunai driven through the backs of their necks. Naruto was held in the arms of a figure wearing a hooded and solid black cloak and an orange and black mask over his face._

"_Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato step away from the jinchuuriki or your son dies at the ripe old age of one minute." Said the masked man._

'_How the hell did he get through the barrier? Who the hell is this guy?' thought Minato as he turned to face the man threatening his family._

_Almost immediately after he did that Kushina screamed as a portion of the seal on her stomach bloated causing the Yondaime to turn his face to her._

'_Kushina! Damn it the seals not done yet.' Thought Minato._

"_Back away from the jinchuuriki." Repeated the masked man catching Minato's attention._

"_Or do you not care if your son dies?" said the man._

"_Hold it, just calm down." Stated Minato trying desperately to think of a solution to this new predicament._

"_You should take your own advice Minato, I'm perfectly calm." stated the man before tossing the baby in the air._

"_NARUTO!" screamed Kushina horrified._

_Immediately Minato's eyes narrowed and he vanished appearing on the ceiling and holding his son as the man had followed through and driven a kunai were Naruto would have been if he wasn't caught by his father._

"_You live up to the 'Yellow Flash' moniker. But what now?"_

_Minato didn't waste a moment immediately going to the blanket wrapped around his son that had three explosive notes attached and already smoking. Barely a few moments later and the notes detonated the force of which was enough to blow the entire place to hell._

"_MINATO, NARUTO!" exclaimed Kushina upon seeing the notes explode._

_Minato flew through the air for a few seconds before landing and sliding on his back before coming to a stop on his butt. In the same instant that he settled he was looking over his son before sighing in relief._

"_Thank Kami your not hurt." Said the Yondaime before pulling a small but rather thick piece of wood from his leg._

'_He's after Kushina. He forced me to use my Hiraishin no jutsu to separate us. Gotta hurry.'_

_With that thought the legendary Yondaime Hokage disappeared once again using the technique that made him a legend. When he reappeared he was within a safe house outside of the village were he and Kushina had often met up while dating to keep their relationship secret and several Hiraishin kunai were hung._

"_You'll be safe here Naruto so be a good boy for daddy while I go and save your mother." Said Minato looking down at his sleeping son before he disappeared once more, with the older Naruto fading away as well._

"_What are you after." Demanded Kushina from her position secured upon the center rock in a blasted clearing with chains securing her to four larger rocks._

_Naruto recognized the place easily as soon as he appeared as one of the villages more out of the way training grounds, usually used for training water techniques thanks to the large body of water the rocks were submerged in. Her captor stood before her on solid ground still covered in his black cloak, and seemingly smug which he wouldn't be if the childbirth hadn't weakened her so much._

"_I came to rip the Kyuubi out of your stomach and use it to crush the leaf." Said the man calmly._

"_What?" questioned Kushina wide eyed._

"_Minato's jutsu uses a special marking that lets him move from one marking to the next. I see he's incorporated it into the design of your seal. All so that he would always be there to protect you. But I managed to get away from him and the seal has been greatly weakened from the birth. Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for this moment?" stated the man._

_As the last bit left him he shifted slightly but as he did his hood moved just enough so that a single eye hole in his mask became visible. Almost as soon as it did Kushina gasped as within that eye hole was an eye she instantly recognized having a very familiar scarlet color along with three black tomoe markings surrounding the pupil._

'_Sharingan!' thought Naruto in shock._

_However at the same moment the Sharingan eye began to spin as it focused on Achika's own eyes. Deep within Achika a pair of crimson red eyes with slit pupils snapped open as a presence hit their owner's senses. Their owner was in fact the infamous Kyuubi no Kitsune that currently hung suspended upon a large sphere. Each of its limbs was held down by chains that disappeared into the sphere as was its head with the chain traveling along its neck. A large spike was driven into its torso with a chain securing it in place disappearing into the sphere. Its large paws and feet were secured the exact same way as were each of its tails._

"_**You**." Snarled the gigantic beast in rage._

_Immediately the beast began to struggle fighting its restraints as a malevolent red chakra bubbled forth around it as its struggles intensified. Outside Kushina cried out as that same malevolent chakra bubbled forth around her in the process of forming a shroud. _

"_Come forth Kyuubi!" exclaimed the masked man his hand held up in a single handed seal._

_Almost immediately like a flood the red chakra burst out from her shooting up into the sky and coming together to form the massive beast; which stood at least 300 meters on its hind legs about 30 on all fours and roared out._

"_We head to Konoha." Said the man calmly as soon as the beasts roar died down._

"_S-stop." Said Kushina panting heavily as she tried to push herself up._

"_The Uzumaki Clan is really something special. Even wrenching a tailed beast out of your stomach didn't kill you right away. I suppose its only fitting for the Kyuubi to kill its former jinchuuriki." Said the man._

_Immediately afterwards the beast left paw came down and descended on her with such force that a dust cloud kicked up that rose higher than even the tallest tree. However at that moment Minato appeared atop the tree in Kyuubi's direct line of sight carrying Kushina bridal style. _

"_A small flash of hope, but its too late." Muttered the man._

"_Minato is Naruto okay." Questioned the woman weakly. _

"_Yes, he's fine. I hid him somewhere safe." Said Minato softly._

"_Thank Tsunami." Muttered the woman breathing a sigh of relief for the safety of her son._

"_Minato you have to stop him…stop the Kyuubi…their heading for the village." Muttered Kushina weakly panting heavily. _

_At this Minato's eyes narrowed before he disappeared once more taking his wife with him. The masked man scoffed at the disappearance but casually shrugged it off before moving on towards the village. Minato and Kushina appeared within the safe house as Minato settled her down onto the floor. _

"_Why?" questioned Kushina tiredly._

"_Never mind why, stay with Naruto." Said Minato as he turned her to her side so that she could see their son. _

_Immediately Kushina reached for her child tears trailing down her face as she held him. Minato however stood to his feet his face turning to stone as his fist clenched in his anger. Turning towards the closet he opened the double doors and pulled out and secured a jounin flack vest before pulling out another article. This one however was a white haori with red flames decorating the ends hat he quickly pulled on the sleeves only going halfway to his elbows before stopping. Reaching up onto a shelf he pulled out a spare hitae-tae he kept there with a black cloth replacing the blue securing it to his forehead._

_Reaching inside once more he pulled out a kunai holster and secured it to his leg. The kunai however were special in that they were not standard but each one possessed three prongs. Holster secured he reached in once more before withdrawing a scroll and sealing it within the interior of his haori before closing the doors. _

"_Minato, thank you…Good luck" said Kushina._

"_I'll be back before you know it." Spoke the man before he disappeared once more._

_When Minato and subsequently Naruto appeared again it was on the mans head on the Hokage Monument both of them looking at the beast with narrowed eyes that was already terrorizing the village. Immediately the beasts head turned towards Minato and narrowed upon spotting him._

"_So you sensed me already." Said Minato._

_At his words the foxes mouth opened wide as a ball of chakra began to form between its jaws. As the ball continued to grow Minato simply watched it for a moment before scoffing._

"_Not on my watch." Said the man bringing his hands into a seal._

_As if it was a queue the beast launched its attack which quickly inflated to a size matching the beast head. The ball of power shot off at extreme speeds only for it to disappear upon reaching its target._

"_Now then for a safe place to let the blast detonate." Said Minato quietly._

_Almost immediately after he said that the huge ball of power appeared behind the village behind even the mountains in the background where no one lived as it detonated a moment later bathing the area in its red light and catching the attention of those who weren't already participating in the battle against the fox. _

'I need to tell the old man what happened_.' Thought Minato._

_However before anything else he brought his left hand around in a back hand nearly driving the three pronged kunai through the head of his masked attacker who somehow managed to catch the mans arm. Almost immediately the area around them began to be sucked in as if drawn into the mans eye, even Minato himself at least before he disappeared and the man stopped his technique. _

"_He teleported talk about fast. Next time I'll have to warp you the moment I lay a hand on you." Said the man._

_Minato appeared outside of the village once more where one of his special kunai was plated in the ground landing on his side. As soon as he was settled he began the process of picking himself up._

'My attack slipped right through him and a moment later he was solid trying to suck me into some dimension or something. What the hell was that?_' thought Minato._

_A moment later a vortex appeared within the trees before a familiar masked figure emerged from it._

'Does he use Space-Time jutsu too? Whatever he did it must be how he moved so far after taking Achika! He defeated ANBU under the direct control of the Sandaime, got by the most powerful top secret barrier we have, and must have known the seal would be weak while she was giving birth. Then with the seal undone he marched right into the village without so much as pausing to deal with the barrier. There's only one man I can think of that makes since, and even then if my wife wasn't from another planet I wouldn't believe it_.' Thought Minato._

"_Are you Uchiha Madara?" questioned Minato causing the man to pull down his hood exposing short but somewhat spiky black hair and showing his orange and black mask had only a single eye hole._

"_No you couldn't be, he's long dead." Said Minato after a moment._

"_Oh I don't know about that." Said the man._

"_On second thought it doesn't matter who you are. Why have you attacked the leaf?" _

"_Oh you know, its fun. Besides its part of my plan to start a war; to bring peace."_

'Whoever the hell he is its incredible! He can control the Kyuubi, wield space-time techniques that exceeds both the Nidaime's and my own, and clearly has evil intentions. If I don't kill him now he'll become an even greater danger than the fox!_' thought Minato._

'If I teleport back to the village he'll just follow me and things will get even more chaotic. Even if he really is Madara I doubt he could hold the summon of the Kyuubi for very long. I'll just have to leave the village in the Sandaime's hands and finish him off right here_.' Thought Minato._

_Just after his thought process had finished the masked man charged him and Minato swung to meet him with the three pronged kunai he'd picked up from the ground. just as Minato's blade was to meet flesh the mans body passed through him and solidified just in time for a chain to hit his chest which the man quickly went to tighten only for Minato to disappear having tossed the kunai in order to appear before it._

'He becomes intangible to negate attacks and then solidifies to counterattack. My only shot is to try and trade hits with him. But attacking at all is a big risk for him, if he can only hold the Kyuubi's summon for a short time he won't want this fight to drag on. It comes down to speed, whoever strikes a split second earlier will win_.' _

_With that thought Minato rushed his adversary determined to be the victor of their battle. As they rushed each other Minato tossed his kunai at the mans face and was not surprised when the weapon fazed through him. As the man reached out to grab him however a spiraling sphere of chakra appeared in Minato's hand in the mans blind spot. In an instant Minato disappeared just as the man's hand was about to touch him and appeared upside down driving the sphere of chakra into the mans back hitting him with such force the mans body forced the very earth to cave in._

"_**Rasengan**__" intoned both the Yondaime and Naruto as one as the Yondaime flipped so that he landed on his feet the attack dissipating in mid flip._

'_Damn it he teleported to the kunai he had just thrown.' Thought the masked man._

"_That was Hiraishin no jutsu, level two." Said Minato. _

_In less than a moment the man managed to disappear and reappear across from Minato clutching his left arm where Minato could clearly make out the blood flowing down the limb from his hand. In an instant Minato was before him driving a kunai into the mans gut much to his surprise._

'Hiraishin no jutsu, he must have put that marking somewhere on my body_.' Thought the man before his eye widen as he saw script forming on him from Minato's unoccupied hand._

"_A contract seal? Are you trying to pull the Kyuubi from my control." Said the man._

"_No I already did! The beast is no longer your weapon to wield." Said Minato. _

"_You deserve the title of Yondaime Hokage, managing to wound me and wrestle control of the Kyuubi from me in one move. But someday it will be mine again. The fox and this whole world will bow to my will. Many doors are still left open for me." Said the man before he disappeared his body sucked into the vortex that his eye created. _

'Something tells me, he wasn't lying_.' Thought Minato with narrowed eyes before he disappeared in the next moment. _

_When Minato appeared next he was standing on the root of a fallen tree near the Kyuubi where he could make out the shinobi of Konoha trying to hold the beast off led by the Sandaime. In the next instant there was a giant blast of smoke which quickly cleared to show a giant red toad standing about 30 meters that wore a blue haori and was oddly enough smoking a pipe. Despite the fact that the shinobi beneath him were cheering his arrival to the battlefield it was drowned out by the masked man's last words to him before he disappeared. _

'_I'm sorry Achika.' Thought the man solemnly before his eyes and face hardened._

"_Hold the fox down for a minute." Said Minato as he addressed the giant toad._

"_**Look I may be big but I'm not a miracle worker**__." Said the toad._

"_I just need enough time so that I can build enough chakra to get the fox and that blast out of here." retorted Minato. _

_However in the next instant Minato, Kyuubi, and the blast were gone, before the blast appeared detonating in the distance. In barely a few moments Minato appeared within the trees of the forest carrying both Naruto and his wife who had reverted back into her natural state._

"_Gotta put up a barrier." Said Minato lowly._

"_My chakra's almost dried up." _

_Despite her retort however in the next instant chakra burst out from her back which quickly took the shape of chains and in no time went about pinning down the fox limbs, tails and all. As the beast fell the ground shock which such force the baby Naruto was immediately awoken and began to cry._

"_Sorry Naruto, I didn't mean to wake you." Said Achika panting heavily. _

"_Achika…" stated Minato in shock at her action._

"_I'll drag the Kyuubi back and die with it inside of me. That'll prevent it from coming back for a while. It's the only way to save you both, with the little bit of chakra I have left." Said Achika panting heavily all the while. _

"_Thank you, for everything." Said the woman smiling despite the state of her body and the dried blood from that had come from her mouth. _

"_Achika you…You made me your husband, you made me into the Yondaime Hokage, you made me this boys father, and I…" said Minato only to be cut off._

"_Don't look so sad Minato, I'm happy. I'm happy that you loved me despite everything, that you didn't reject me, that its our sons birthday. If I try to imagine surviving and the three of us living together I can't think of anything beyond 'I'd be so happy.' If I had any regrets it would be that I won't get to see Naruto grow up." Said Achika smiling._

"_Achika, you don't need to take the fox down with you. We can use our last bit of chakra, so that we can see Naruto one more time." Said Minato with tears streaming down his face._

"_Huh" questioned Achika. _

"_I'll seal the last of your chakra within Naruto with an Eight Trigrams seal. Then I'll lead the Kyuubi away and finish it with a seal only a non jinchuuriki like me can use, the Shiki Fuuin (Dead Demon Seal)." _

"_Minato you can't, using that you'll be…" _

"_I'll only be able to seal half of the Kyuubi's power. It's just too great, its physically and conceptually impossible to completely seal it all. I can't let the Kyuubi be revived without a jinchuuriki, the balance of the bijuu would be destroyed. But with the Shiki Fuuin I can permanently seal away half of its power along with myself. And the remaining half…" stated Minato cutting himself off as a memory of a conversation with his sensei hit him. _

"You know, you might actually be the Destined Child." Said Jiraiya.

"The what child?" questioned the teenaged Minato.

"Sometime in the near future our world will be faced with disaster." Stated Jiraiya.

'And the Destined Child will be its savior' thought Minato as he looked upon his son still he continued his sentence.

"…_I'll seal the remaining half within Naruto." Said Minato finally causing Achika's eyes to widen._

"_I know what you want to say. But Jiraiya-sensei spoke of the world undergoing a revolution, and with it a great disaster. Tonight I've come to suspect two things. The first is the masked man that attacked us, he is the harbinger of that disaster. It will be Naruto who will be the one to stop him. The Jinchuuriki that will blaze the trail to our future. I just know it." Said Minato turning to face his sleeping son. _

"_But Minato…" started Achika only to be cut off by the man who'd already finished his chain of seals._

"_Have a little faith, he is our son after all." Said Minato before announcing the name of his technique. _

"_After I finish placing the seal I'll place your remaining chakra into Naruto as well. You'll meet the grown up Naruto sooner than you think. The time will come when he'll attempt to take control of the fox's power, you'll need to be there to help him." _

"_Minato he's our son!" exclaimed Achika._

"_That's why. I don't want him to bear such heavy burdens all on his own." Explained Minato._

"_But why the Shiki Fuuin. There's no reason for you to die just so I can meet him for a few minutes when he's older! I wanted you to be there for him, I wanted you to raise him. So why are you doing this. Why are you sacrificing Naruto just to preserve the balance of the Bijuu, to save this village or even this country, why are you sacrificing yourself for me" exclaimed Achika in tears by the end. _

"_Turning ones back on your country or village is just as bad as abandoning a child. You should understand you saw Uzu, your country fall apart. You know the pain of growing up without a home of your own and you know that we are a family of shinobi." Said Minato calmly._

"_Besides even if I lived I could never substitute for you. There are things Naruto needs to be told, things I could never say myself. That is a mother's job, and I need you to carry it out even if you only have the briefest of moments to do so. This isn't just for you, this is for Naruto! No child should grow up with no memory of their mother. Besides dying to make a better life for his child, that's the stuff you let the father handle." Said Minato. _

_With that he summoned a small alter with candles surrounding it and a small mattress in the center which he placed Naruto on. However before either of them could move the fox roared as it managed to lift its massive right hand and moved to bring it down on the small family. Achika and Minato went wide eyed seeing it was aimed directly at Naruto and both moved to jump in front of the boy. Unexpectedly a sound resembling metal clashing was heard in the next instant and both were surprised when the pain never came._

_Turning their heads both were shocked to see what appeared to be three shields made of pure chakra holding off the beast attack. Even the Kyuubi itself stopped tilting its head as if in curiosity at the sight._

"_Impossible, Lighthawk wings, but how." Muttered Achika in shock_

_Turning back towards Naruto they were surprised to find the baby boy awake and staring at the fox the boys blue eyes glowing. Suddenly the three pieces began to widen before it quickly took the shape of a circular shield with a indent in the center. Blue energy began to gather into the indented portion quickly forming a small but steady growing ball of energy as the now rounded shield folded back. In less than three seconds the ball was quite large and a hole appeared where the indent was before the ball of power shot forward straight through the Kyuubi's paw and the limb attached before hitting the body and exploding leaving laid out in front of them. The older Naruto was the only one to see Kyra pump her fist with her other hand on the babies head._

_Despite what had just happened both parents were quick to snap out of their daze. Almost immediately an ethereal arm shot out of Minato's stomach and into the fox before pulling some chakra back with it which was quickly pulled into the mans stomach before a seal flashed into existence. As the baby Naruto began coughing both parents turned their attention to him to find he coughed up a small amount of blood._

_Turning back to his parents he was just in time to see his mother finish a chain of hand seals before a seal appeared on the baby's stomach before it faded away instantly the baby stopped coughing and fell asleep. Minato quickly flew through his own seals at a breakneck pace. A moment later and a toad about half the size of a full grown man appeared in a puff of smoke sitting with its legs folded beneath it._

"_AHH, the Kyuubi! And Minato what the hell happened to you?" exclaimed the toad. It was to this scene that the Sandaime arrived in full battle gear along with a crew of shinobi._

"_Gamatora I'm entrusting you with the key to the seal. Hurry and take it to Jiraiya-sensei, store it with him."_

"_I see, he intends to save the village by making his son the new jinchuuriki." Muttered the old man._

"_Got it, goodbye." Said the toad sadly before it disappeared before Minato grunted coughed and spit up blood. _

"_It's time for me to go Achika. I'm going to perform the Eight Trigrams seal and try to leave some of my own chakra too. We don't have much time if you have anything left to say to Naruto…" Said Minato getting a nod from the woman._

_Achika kissed him briefly before lying down beside her son and saying a few words in the baby's ear before kissing him crying all the while. As she finished Minato spoke up and told the boy to 'listen to his motor mouth mother' which got a smile from the sleeping baby before there was another burst of light._

* * *

When the light cleared he was once again in the dreary halls that made up his mindscape sitting on top of the water with silent tears trailing down his face. Kyra stood before him while a pair of arms was wrapped around him from behind telling him where his mother was.

"How is this possible I was scanned for any signs of the Kyuubi after I graduated and they couldn't find anything." Said Naruto after a few minutes of silence.

"Well as you know you are one of the last true Furyans, as Furyan blood flows through you as does Furyan energy. Because there has never been a true Furyan jinchuuriki certain things are different with you. The Kyuubi is there behind the cage and suppressed by your own power. When your Juraian abilities were unsealed the nine tails was further suppressed. You actually almost woke it up during the battle in Nami, but you managed to control your rage and summon the pets I gave you.

Over the past decade the seal has been constantly converting the Kyuubi's chakra allowing your body to absorb it at a slow but steady rate. This you can see in the pipes above us, the blue ones representing your chakra network and the red ones the Kyuubi's chakra. One day all of these pipes will be blue." Said Kyra.

"So why me, why all this?" questioned Naruto quietly.

"That's a story for another time Naruto-kun. You've learned much today, you need to digest it. I'm sorry to say this but I have to cut your reunion now, I'm a spirit not a Goddess. I've been using my own energy so that your mother could speak to you, too much longer and her own chakra will start draining, and you'll need her aid in the future." Said Kyra sadly.

"Naruto listen to me, I need you to take up kenjutsu so that you can wield my sword Zangetsu. It is an heirloom passed down to the head of the Uzumaki clan in every generation. The clan is scattered now but any of them even the branch members will follow you should you possess it. It, along with every heirloom I had including the clan scrolls, is safely stored aboard Yosho-oh. There is so much more I wish I could do for you. I love you so so much" Said Achika crying softly before her body faded away leaving only the lingering feeling of her touch with her son.

"You said I have a destiny." Said Naruto standing slowly.

"That you do, and it is a grand one, I can see the signs all over you. I can't however tell you what it is as the future is not set in stone but decided by ones own actions." Said Kyra

"I wouldn't have believed you anyway, I create my own destiny." Said Naruto.

"I'd expect nothing less from you. I'll see you soon Naruto-kun."

With that Kyra faded away leaving Naruto alone within the mindscape staring into the cage that apparently held the Kyuubi. Walking up to it he stood so that he was just before the bars of the cage.

"I don't know if you can here me fox. However it seems you and I have a common enemy, a certain Uchiha we both want dead. The only question is do you want his death as much as I do." Stated the blonde before he too faded away missing the single slit pupil having red eye that opened after his departure before closing once more.

AN: Well that's it for this chapter. Please leave a review telling me what you think. Anyway thanks for reading, till next time LATER.


	9. Closure

Legacy of the Light Hawk

Chapter 9

AN: Hello all, yes the long awaited ninth chapter is finally here. Firstly thanks to everyone who reviewed and still does and everyone who added this story to their fav's. This will be the last filler chapter before the time skip to the Chuunin Exams so I hope you guys enjoy what I do and the changes I made which will also explain why I did what I did last chapter. So yes there is indeed a plan as I saw something in GXP and want more, anyone who can figure out what that is gets a digital cookie. Anyway that said here's the new chapter.

Start Now:

Impassive blue eyes stared out over the village from atop the Hokage Monument. After awakening he hadn't wasted a moment leaving the council chambers not even paying any mind to anyone else within the room. He didn't even spare the space beside him a look as Kakashi walked up to stand beside him. For several minutes they just stood silently looking down upon the village that went on ignorant of all that had just been discovered, finally however the silence was broken.

"You know I'm not surprised." Said the blond surprising Kakashi with his words.

"Those bastards were always the bane of my existence. No matter what it was always someone from that damn clan that was at the root of my problems."

Kakashi frowned at these words before following the boy's gaze finally ending with his eyes landing upon the Uchiha District. Looking the boy that was the closest thing he currently had to family he could see that his fist were clenched so tightly that blood was dripping down and the pupils of his eyes had become Hellish (slitted) yet still retained their blue color.

"It wouldn't surprise me if those bastards had a hand in this. Whatever the case there are only three left, if I have my way all three will be dead before I leave this planet."

With that the boy leapt over the ledge surprising Kakashi who ran forward only to see the boy catch a pole he otherwise wouldn't have noticed before releasing and repeating the process until he landed upon a rooftop. Shaking his head at the boy's craziness the Copy Nin sighed before he burst into smoke.

Back within the council chambers Washu sat forward into her screen her fingers flying over the keys of the keyboard only she could manipulate. While everyone else was still digesting what had been shown she was busy as something else had captured her attention. Finally she sat back and groaned a sound that pulled attention as everyone pulled their gaze to her seeing the diminutive genius rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Sasami come here." Called the genius motioning the girl over.

After her approach Washu motioned her to look at the screen which she did reading it over before a gasp escaped her which really had the attention of the room.

"Is there something wrong Lady Washu?" questioned Seto.

"There's something very wrong Seto-dono." Said Washu with a sigh.

"The Kyuubi's energy signature, I've seen it before. It's fragmented but definitely something I've seen." Said the genius with a frown her words catching the immediate attention of all in the room.

"What do you mean fragmented?" questioned Yosho.

"Well some time ago there existed a great beast. This beast was created by the Chosen its purpose was to guard over the universe as it was just beginning. One day the eldest of the Chosen left and took the beast with her. It appears that the beast was left here by her and has since been divided into nine fragments, each one it appears is sealed into a someone."

After this announcement wide eyes were seen on the faces of the Juraian's while others in the room were simply confused. One however was not, that being the Sandaime Hokage who took this moment to speak up.

"Great you're talking about them." Stated the old man with a sigh and ignoring protocol proceeded to pull out his pipe and light it with a quick application of fire chakra.

"You know what she speaks of?" questioned one of the civilian council members.

"We all do. She's talking about the bijuu." Stated the Sandaime causing a hush to come from the natives.

"What are these bijuu you speak of?" questioned Ayeka.

"The bijuu or the Kyuu no Bijuu as they are collectively known are the nine tailed beast that have roamed this world for as long as we have record. Like the Kyuubi they are all chakra monsters with a certain number of tails. The first is the Ichibi no Shukaku, next is the Nibi no Bakeneko, the Sanabi no Kyodaigame, the Yonbi no Saru, followed by the Gobi no Irukauma. Then comes the Rokubi no Namekuji, the Nanabi no Kabutomushi, the Hachibi no Kyogyu, and finally the Kyuubi no Kitsune the most powerful of them all." Explained Hiruzen.

"What are we going to do?" questioned Sasami.

"We'll remove them from these people of course." Said Washu calmly.

"Lady Washu that won't be possible. Not only would these beast be held by other villages the containers themselves would be killed by the extraction.

"Then you'll invite them all here for these exams of yours. In fact they can come with the rest of this world's leaders. Aside from that this will not kill them, I can assure you of that." Stated Washu giving the Hokage a hard stare.

"Besides there power cores seem to be destabilizing if this keeps up this planet will be destroyed in a massive explosion that will be felt all the way to Earth."

"Are they really that powerful?" questioned Tenyo in apprehension.

"They are a culmination of all three powers when put together. Ryo-ohki and Ryoko possesses only a fraction of that raw power each and look what happened to Jurai when they were set on it." Said Washu causing Ryoko to rub the back of her head sheepishly.

"Even if you could remove them, we'd have to reseal them as they're too dangerous to let wander around." Stated Koharu one of the Sandaime's former teammates.

"Oh don't worry about that I already have something in mind for them." Said Washu with that devious smirk that always graced her face whenever she had a really good idea.

Slash, duck, slash, weave, kick, block, slash, weave, slash. The actions repeated in random order as Naruto darted through the numerous clones he'd created within the training ground. His Ulacks, or Saber claws as they were popular called were a blur as he dispatched clone after clone. The training was almost therapeutic in a way yet he still saw Sharingan eyes in each clone he dispatched. There was no mercy, or hesitation in his movements' only fluid, brutal effectiveness. Finally the last of his clones fell to his blades disappearing in a puff of smoke allowing for him to come to a halt.

He panted sweat dripping from his form as he mentally dispersed several more clones that he had training ninjutsu not far off. Zabuza had given him a small scroll with water ninjutsu and manipulation exercises, though he'd apparently made it a point to slip it into his bag along with Haku's mask. He'd only just discovered them as he hadn't been to his apartment until after he left Kakashi that morning.

Raising himself from his slightly hunched over position he sheathed the blades. He couldn't do more than that however before a new presence made itself known.

"Those are some nice blades there." Said Kakashi making his way over.

"They were a gift. Haku-chan thought they would fit my style." Returned the blond.

"We'll have to work them in to your taijutsu training then. Anything else I should know?" questioned the man.

Naruto was silent for a moment in thought at this question. On the one hand he knew that due to his relationship with his father Kakashi thought of him as a nephew. Since they'd been placed together the man had not only been doing his best to train him but to get to know him as well. Despite this he knew of his since of independence and respected it. However he was also his superior and withholding information even something he thought of as minor had consequences. Shrugging mentally he made a mental note to copy down the scroll and spoke up.

"Zabuza apparently snuck a small scroll of water jutsu into my pack."

Kakashi inwardly winced at that as he knew he got off lucky. It was only Naruto's luck that he and Haku had been so close as he knew that that could have easily been something far more devious and lethal the man could've prepared. With that he made a mental note to check the packs of his students before returning from any mission outside of the village.

"Alright then, I'll need to look it over but you'll more than likely be allowed to keep it. However if there are any jutsu that the village doesn't have they'll most likely be copied."

At these words Naruto merely nodded his understanding as he could tell that was as good as it was going to get or could get for that matter. However judging from the man's stance he could tell he had something else on his mind and thus kept quiet.

"I don't know a way to sugarcoat this so I'll just be blunt." Stated Kakashi causing the blond to raise an eyebrow.

"Lady Washu believes she can remove the Kyuubi without it affecting you negatively." Said Kakashi.

"Interesting."

Shimura Danzo scowled as he sat within his office within his underground headquarters. For the past few days he'd been having everything but the kitchen sink thrown into his plans. For over a decade he had been working for the sole purpose of acquiring the Kyuubi vessel for himself. Yet now after all that time, planning, and subtle manipulation it had all proven to have gone to waste. The stirring of the masses to hate the boy, the stirring to keep the memories of the Kyuubi attack lingering, having him kicked out of the orphanage, the beatings, the sabotage at the academy, hell even his treatment at the market place had all been planned out carefully and had gone to waste.

He had known the boy was special and related to the Yondaime, he looked too much like the bastard for him to be anyone but his son. Where most would have been discouraged with this he'd seen an even bigger target which would have made an even greater weapon at his command. However he had never thought the boy would have been related to the Nidaime. This was worse than him being the son of the Yondaime for him as he was the last of the Senju clan, one of the founding clans of the village. Even worse the boy's mother had been a princess in turn making him a prince. A prince of an empire that spanned not countries but of planets, with their own sitting right within that sphere of influence!

If that wasn't enough than not only did they want to remove the Kyuubi from the boy, but they wouldn't be sealing it within another vessel period. Keeping the Kyuubi in the village had been the sole motivation for him selling out Uzu no Kuni as it would insure there would be a Jinchuriki more loyal to Konoha than anywhere else unlike the previous two. He needed to figure out a way to salvage this situation in a way were things would come out to his advantage. His thoughts were broken as a black garbed individual appeared before him bowing on one knee.

"Danzo-sama. Hyo has returned from his mission in Ta no Kuni (Land of Rice Fields).

Hyuga Hinata was on cloud nine. The past couple of days had floated by in a daze for her, such was her mood that she wasn't even bothered by the derogatory slurs against her from her elder cousin Neji nor her little sister Hanabi. Her mood was so good she had been flying through her training and even beat her little sister in a spar for once. What was the source of her good mood, the answer was pretty simple, Naruto.

Though they had never really spoken during the academy the two of them, or rather Naruto had forced her to take time so they could get to know each other after they had graduated. She had always held an infatuation with the blond, even from the first time she saw him something had drawn her attention to him. However she had never felt she could act on or make her feelings known. She was the Heiress of the Hyuga clan no matter how shakily she held onto the title and Naruto had always been a no name orphan and even worse the village pariah.

That however was different now though. Now it had been revealed he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage, the greatest her the village had ever known. If that wasn't enough he was the grandson of the Nidaime Hokage Senju Tobirama, which due to a series of tragic events made him the last heir of the Senju clan. Even more he was a prince, a real honest to Kami prince. She didn't even have to make her feelings known as already her father had written up a marriage proposal for her and sent it to the Hokage. She knew she didn't have much competition within the village either at least from any prominent clans and even if she did it was apparently normal for males of his family to have multiple wives.

Within the village her only competition would be Inuzuka Hana, the heir of the Inuzuka clan. None of the other clans had a female heir around Naruto's age to her knowledge and Ino wasn't even acknowledged as heir to her clan yet. So yes she had a very good reason to be happy especially considering she was pretty sure that Naruto would accept her, he would undoubtedly ask her first but he would accept her as soon as she made her feelings known. All she had left to do was build up her courage and figure out the right words to say and she would be married in no time. The cherry on top would be that all of those stupid Uchiha fan girls would have to eat their words when it happened!

After a few hours of training with Kakashi Naruto had found his mood had improved considerably. He knew he got the most hands on training from Kakashi but he worked mostly on taijutsu which was a hands on activity. He knew Sasuke was focused on ninjutsu as that's all the Uchiha wanted, more and more jutsu which could be learned from scrolls. Kakashi had pointed Sakura in the direction of genjutsu and medicine and apparently the girl still hadn't made her choice on which path she would take. He himself didn't really care as long as she wasn't a burden for much longer.

Still Kakashi had worked with him to incorporate his Ulaks into his taijutsu and while admittedly not a knife fighter Kakashi had helped him learn a lot. As promised the masked jounin had left with the ninjutsu scroll from Zabuza which he didn't mind since he was really only working on the first manipulation exercise at the moment. The exercise involved coating his hand in water and trying to get the liquid to stick. Of course this was secondary to his real work of learning wind manipulation. While he only made five clones for water he had made twenty for wind while he could have easily made more he saw no point in rushing things at the moment as that would only stress him out. Shaking himself out of his thoughts he realized he'd already arrived at his apartment shrugging he unlocked the door only to be surprised by finding Washu, Seto, Funaho, Misaki and Sasami inside sitting on his couch and in the chairs drinking tea.

"Well now this is a surprise." Muttered the teen as he closed the door.

"We wanted to speak with you without interference from the others." Said Washu calmly.

"So what would you like to speak about?" asked the blond taking a seat upon a stool he set across from her between Seto and Sasami.

"I'm sure by now that you've heard that we plan on removing the tailed beast from their containers." Said Washu.

"I heard and I don't see it happening. Not only will the hidden villages not allow it, but I doubt any of their containers would like to die no matter how much their life sucks." Said the blond.

"The process will be painless I assure you. Though it is no as I've told this villages council." Said Washu getting a raised eyebrow from the blond.

"In truth while I will remove them from your bodies I can't say that there will not be unforeseen effects from this. Because they are fragmented I cannot create bodies for them unlike I did for Ryo-ohki and Fuku here."

It was only then that the blond noticed the two cabbits that took that moment to run from behind his couch and jump into his lap. This was definitely a surprise as he knew animals feared him and if not were simply wary of him. The only ones he hadn't seen hesitate before this had been the three hellhounds Kyra had given him.

"So what will you do with them then?" questioned the blond.

"That's a surprise, but I guarantee you'll love it." Said Washu mischievously.

"Before we can do that we will need to do a preliminary scan of your body, which work perfectly since those would have to be done before you could leave this planet for Jurai anyway." Said Washu getting a raised eyebrow from the single male in the room.

"It is a galactic policy set in place to prevent the spread of diseases to other planets. While we have cures for just about every disease this still helps prevent their spread." Explained Funaho.

"After the procedure Sasami will act as your nurse." Said Washu causing Naruto to narrow his eyes.

"You make it sound as if I'll be weakened greatly. If that's the case I'd have to decline I have no intention of being assassinated now that these idiots know of my lineage and I guarantee that there will be attempts." Said Naruto seriously.

"You'll have no need to worry about that. The procedure will be done in my lab which cannot be reached unless they can pinpoint the exact subspace. No one will even know when it's happening if you don't want as I can set up a portal right here in a closet if needed. The galaxy at large has been trying to access my lab for centuries and hasn't come close even once so I'm positive no one here will be able to." Explained Washu getting a nod from the young man at that.

"Also having Sasami as a nurse isn't because of a fear you'll be weakened but so that you can get to know each other." Said Seto speaking up for the first time getting a raised eyebrow from the blond.

"Naruto-kun you have a very special ability one which only Tenchi seems to share with you." Said Funaho calmly.

"The ability she speaks of is the ability to summon Light Hawk Wings without the need for a Juraian power source such as a tree ship. Even though you only showed this ability once as a newborn you still have it and that alone gives you a greater chance to take the throne once Azusa steps down. Officially speaking you're the third in line, and have been since you were born, making Seina the fourth now that we've found you.

However the Juraian people would never accept an outsider to take the throne, it would be like the people here having a Hokage from outside the village. However this can be worked around in a way which has already been shown to work." Explained Funaho after sipping her tea.

"The way is for someone the people know to also be on the throne. That is where Sasami comes in since if the two of you marry it will be acceptable." Explained Seto getting a frown from the boy.

"And what is your stand on this Sasami-san?" questioned Naruto.

"I um, actually already agreed to do it." Said Sasami with a blush.

"Still a wedding won' t be for a few years as neither of you are of legal age to do so." Said Misaki with a giggle.

"Well technically speaking I can get married on this planet. Seeing as to how I'm a shinobi I'm legally an adult so if I wanted to I could get married at any time. The only thing that's really frowned on is drinking. Still I had no plans to do anything of the sort any time soon." Said Naruto thoughtfully.

"While that may be true here to the galaxy as a whole you are still but a child. In galactic standard you cannot marry until sixteen." Explained Funaho getting a nod from the blond.

"Another thing we have received a few marriage proposals from members of the council. Most notable were the Hyuga heads daughter Hinata, and the Inuzuka heads daughter Hana." Said Misaki.

"Really well I'll have to talk to Hinata and see what she thinks about it. I don't know the Inuzuka but I know her brother he used to be one of my associates in my pranking days." Said Naruto.

"Very well the decision will have to be made before you leave this planet." Said Seto seriously causing Naruto to nearly gulp.

"On another note as the heads of Jurai's government, Azusa, Misaki, Seto-sama, and I must return soon as we cannot be absent to long. We will be leaving after your procedure and return in time for your exams. Before that though we must go and retrieve your parents bodies so that they may be laid to rest properly." Explained Funaho.

"Alright I'll take a quick shower and meet you at the village gates." Said Naruto after a few silent moments.

A single figure made his way through the crowded streets at a brisk pace. The figure was a tall man standing 6'2" in height and weighing nearly 200 pounds of muscle. The man in question had extremely long and spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for 'Oil' in the center. He wore a green short shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he wore mesh armor that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, and a pair of geta on his feet, a red haori worn open with two simple yellow circles, and a large scroll secured to his back.

He was currently walking through the streets of Crater City, and while he would normally stop to enjoy the festivities this wasn't one of those times as this was one of his serious moods. Because of the festivities the city had frequently he was able to blend in quite well and as such was just another face in the crowd despite his celebrity. Finally he reached his destination seemingly as he entered a door to reveal the place to be a bar. Scanning the place he smirked before moving over to a table and taking a seat across from a buxom blond woman while trapping a young black haired woman beside him.

"What do you want Jiraiya?" questioned the blond woman with narrowed eyes especially when seeing his own serious orbs.

"I received an emergency message from sensei a few days ago Tsunade." Started the man calmly.

"This message simply put was an order to return to the village." Stated Jiraiya.

"And what's that got to do with me, I haven't received anything from him in years." Said the woman.

"Apparently you were dodging his messengers. Long story short Achika's family arrived for her son. Sensei would like us to be present for a meeting the day after the Chuunin Exams three months from now. Apparently he is also the grandson of Senju Tobirama" Explained Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya Achika's son died after the Kyuubi attack." Said the woman with narrowed eyes.

"Where'd you here that. I raised the boy myself for the first three years before I had to leave him in sensei's care. Even now I keep tabs on him, in fact he just returned to the village from his first C-rank mission to Nami no Kuni." Explained Jiraiya.

"I received a message from the elders after the attack saying he died during it." Said the woman causing Jiraiya's eyes to narrow.

"I see. I'll inform sensei of this personally. I'll also be sticking to the village the month leading to the third exam so I can get some time with him." Said Jiraiya.

"I guess I'll see you in a few months then pervert." Said Tsunade as the man stood up to leave causing him to pause.

"You know I'm only this way because you refuse to marry me. Ja ne Tsunade-hime, Shizune-chan."

With that the Jiraiya, the legendary Toad Sage left the building leaving two shocked women in his wake.

The journey had been made quickly to the spot where Yosho-oh's tree landed. The crash site itself was only twenty minutes away from Konoha by carriage. It had been the first time he'd actually ridden in one and he was pretty certain there wouldn't be many more. Due to the large number of people several carriages had been needed though he'd have rather leapt through the trees. Despite this there were also several jounin including Kakashi, Sarutobi Asuma, Maito Gai, and a pair of chuunin named Hagane Kotetsu, and Kamizuki Izumo.

Naruto sat in the first carriage alongside Yosho, Airi and Sasami. With Yosho's advice he'd been able to use the gem on the key to locate the crashed ship which took the shape of a giant redwood tree that they now stood before.

"The Great Tree of Fire." Said Izumo in a awe.

"You know it?" questioned Naruto.

"I've never actually been here before. However the story is that the tree is actually older than Konoha itself and nothing could touch it even ninjutsu." Answered the chuunin.

"That's true, I remember during the war there was a battle here and not even an earth dragon could put a scratch on it." Said Gai.

Naruto was impressed by this but walked up to the trees base and began walking around it until he finally stopped just to the left of the group. Holding up the bracer he could see the gem pulsing rapidly and after some mental prodding by Yosho-oh pushed his hand forward with it disappearing inside of the trunk. Turning his hand to the right an audible click could be heard before a white doorway appeared within the tree trunk just in front of him.

"Okay, I've seen a lot of stuff since I became a shinobi but that right there takes the cake." Said Kotetsu getting a nod from both Izumo and Asuma.

Naruto didn't waste a moment and stepped inside followed quickly by the rest of the Masaki clan and action the group of Konoha nin was quick to repeat with the door fading away as soon as the last entered. The place they entered was a large grassland that Naruto recognized from the night he stole the Forbidden Scroll of Seals. Not long after they entered a transparent figure appeared looking exactly like Achika

"Hello everyone, I am Yosho-oh. Prince Naruto I'm happy you finally came to visit and I'm happy to see you as well Prince Yosho and Lady Airi." Stated the A.I. with a bow.

"Hello Yosho-oh thank you for taking care of Achika and Naruto." Said Airi.

"It was my pleasure and honor my lady. I have kept Princess Achika and Lord Minato in stasis as directed in preparation for this day. If you would all follow me."

With that everyone followed her as they made their way through the ship. He ignored the conversation that the jounin and chuunin were having at seeing the place mostly because he'd thought similar things himself when he'd first seen it. Finally they came to an area that was blocked off by a wall of vines that quickly parted to allow them entrance. The room itself was small and bare consisting only of two glass covered beds. In one lay Achika with her hair let out and wearing a simple white gown with her Konoha hitae-tae folded and resting next to her. In the other lay the body of the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato in all his battle ready glory. However what caught the most attention were the simple gold bands that rested on each of their ring fingers.

Yosho, Airi, Funaho, Misaki, and Azusa were the first to step up as they surrounded Achika's bed. After some time and a prayer they moved over to Minato and repeated the prayer. Naruto had no idea how much time had passed nor did he realized that he was shedding silent tears as he looked at the still forms of his parents a sight that he had both looked forward to and dreaded throughout his life. While many of them saw it all of them kept from speaking while Sasami simply stepped over to his side and took his hand without saying a word.

"Yosho-oh, can you transport them to Kirito please." Said Azusa after several minutes.

"Of course my lord." Answered Yosho-oh, before the two beds glowed slightly before phasing out of existence.

"Prince Naruto you will find your inheritance from the Uzumaki clan within the next room." Said Yosho-oh.

Taking a breath Naruto took a step towards the mentioned room with Sasami walking in step with him still holding his hand. As they entered the room they found only a single bed upon which sat a large scroll which the blond quickly sealed within a storage scroll he carried. Beside the scroll was the sword he'd seen in his mother's section of the museum only this was the real deal with several slight differences. The real swords blade wasn't just black, but so black it seemed to absorb light. The handle was red and black instead of solid black and it was 68 inches overall about three inches longer than the replica. The sheath however was simple in that it was solid black with a simple black cord which he used to secure it to his back.

Turning to Sasami he found that she was holding a small bedside picture which she handed to him. In the picture were both of his parents sitting in front of the tree with Minato having his back to it while Achika sat between his legs leaning against his chest as his arms were wrapped around her midsection while his chin rested on her left shoulder. After looking it over the blond sealed it within his storage scroll as well before they left the room.

"Well now this is interesting." Commented Washu as she looked on a screen.

"What's wrong?" questioned Airi.

Naruto didn't speak but he watched her from his position. He was currently leaned back in a reclining chair much like one would expect to see in a dentist office. He was shirtless allowing his solid torso and six pack to be seen with wires attached to his torso. They were currently within the subspace that housed Washu's lab about an hour after the short trip to Yosho-oh's tree. In the end the A.I. had wished him well and explained that now that her purpose was fulfilled she would going offline. Because of this he had given the key to Airi which she was now wearing.

"There's nothing wrong worrywart." Said Washu with a laugh before turning to the blond.

"Naruto-dono according to these scans you possess a second form of sorts." Explained Washu getting a raised eyebrow.

"It appears that this is something you were born with that you gained most likely due to the fact your mother was the container before you were. You won't change much but you'll have claws and fangs. In this form your senses will also be greatly enhanced as well as your strength and speed. All in all I'd say it's just a more battle ready form. Other than that you're a bit malnourished." Informed the woman.

"So I have a more animal-like form then." Mused the young gennin.

"I suppose you could say that." Said Washu.

"So are you ready for this?" questioned Washu.

"Yes, let's get it over with."

"So eager, maybe you can be my guinea pig." Said Washu.

"Only if you treat me right."

At his answer Washu paused in shock as no one had ever answered her like that. Even Tenchi shied away whenever she brought up such a prospect. Granted she only ever teased him but still Naruto didn't know her that well and still wasn't fazed, interesting indeed.

"Alright then here we go." Said Washu returning to reality.

With that the genius flew over the keys at an astonishing rate finally after much typing she finished and pressed enter. Almost immediately he could hear a sound similar to a generator coming online and his seal flashed into existence. He didn't know how much time passed all he knew was that he was taking deep breath after deep breath and gritting his teeth as well in pain. It felt like liquid fire was traveling through his chakra network, organs, bones, and skin. Finally after who knows how long the pain faded and numbness took effect. At the same time he could hear the sound the generator made as it slowed down and eventually powered off.

"So what do you think?" questioned Washu as she approached.

In her hand he could see a small red gem in her hand very similar to the ones he saw her daughter Ryoko wearing. However the difference was that this one was slightly bigger and if one looked closely enough they could see energy swirling around inside of it. Looking down he was just in time to see the last part of his seal flaking away before he passed out.

He awoke once more in the sewer like landscape that made up his mindscape. As he looked forward he could see the slip of paper that had acted as the seal float to the ground. Almost as soon as it feel it was enshrouded in smoke and he found himself looking upon the form of his mother in her Kushina guise. In the next instant he saw the battle garbed form of his father fade into existence before he blinked.

"Ok I never expected this." Said Minato scratching the top of his head.

"What's going on?" questioned Kushina.

"I had the Kyuubi removed by Hakubi Washu. Apparently they plan to get rid of the rest of them the same way." Explained Naruto.

"Really, wow." Said Kushina.

"Your bodies are aboard Kirito and will be sent to Jurai for burial. Also apparently I'm the grandson of the Nidaime Hokage, Sarutobi-jiji announced it to the clan heads when my heritage was made known." Said Naruto.

"Okay that's also something I didn't expect. Naruto you'll need to be especially careful now and train even harder." Said Minato.

"Yeah I kind of figured. Kakashi is teaching me taijutsu, Yosho-jiji said he'll work with me on Kenjutsu too. I've got clones working on nature manipulation for wind and water and I'm going to have some start studying basic seals." Said Naruto contemplatively.

"Before you start working with seals you'll need to focus on calligraphy as your writing needs to be absolutely perfect with seals." Said Kushina.

"When you finish nature manipulation training try adding wind to the Rasengan. It was never really completed so that's your job. Don't even think about touching Hiraishin until you go through everything your mother left you on seals though." Said Minato.

"I'm supposed to marry Sasami when I turn sixteen. Also the Hyuga head and the Inuzuka heads have submitted marriage contracts." Said Naruto causing Kushina to groan.

"I knew I forgot something! Sochi whatever you do make sure it's a decision you can live with. Also you should smile more but real ones. I will not have you going down the road of the brooding emo understand!" Said Kushina causing Naruto to take a step back and nod seeing her hair arch up so that it looked like she had nine tails.

"Well son I'd like to stick around a lot longer but I'm just about out of chakra. Know that I'm proud of you and I look forward to listening to everything you have to tell the next time we meet a long, long time from now when you have grandchildren to tell us about." Said Minato giving his young mirror image a hug.

His mother didn't say anything at first simply pulling him into a tight hug and whispering words into his ear. When she pulled back she had a smile on her face as she and his father faded away from the place. Naruto was still for several seconds returning the smile before he too faded away leaving his mindscape for the last time.

AN: That's it. The chapter is finally done. Before anyone starts with me about the Kyuubi removal know that I have a plan so that's why it was still in him and why I did what I did last chapter. That said thanks for reading and please review. Till next time, LATER.


	10. Exam Begins

Legacy of the Light Hawk

Chapter 10:

AN: Hello all welcome back. I know it's been a while and because of that I'm going to get straight into the meat of things. No more dicking around on my part. Anyway this chapters shorter than I was initially going to make it but I wanted to get something out before New Years since I missed my self imposed Christmas deadline. That said here we go.

Start Now:

Hakubi Washu is the greatest scientific genius in the universe. While most people would contest with such a title everyone within the universe in which she lived and had knowledge knew this statement was indeed fact. While most within the galaxy didn't know much about her those who knew her knew that she preferred to spend as much time as she could within the confines of her lab. At the moment the universe's greatest mind was doing just that her eyes focused upon the screen that was before her and her fingers flying over the keyboard. At the moment she was trying to stabilize the crystal that had formed from the Kyuubi's chakra as well as going over all of the data that she had been able to collect from it.

From what she could see over its time it had picked up on the hatred of the human's and eventually began to feel the same negative emotion. It had also picked up several powers that quite frankly were outside of what had been envisioned when the original was created after adapting to the planet. However as she had stated previously to the council the fragmented power that the Kyubi had possessed was steadily destabilizing which it had expressed by its increasing negative emotions. She had also discovered that over the years each of the nine beasts had developed telepathic links with each other which made since to her as they were all initially part of the same being.

She had also found a wealth of knowledge belonging to the previous two host of the Kyubi being Uzumaki Mito and Uzumaki Kushina and had to admit that she was impressed. While she was a genius in all rights the fuinjutsu formula's and knowledge honestly left her baffled meaning she would be spending quite some time in an effort to learn it. Of course she also had to reconfigure the power matrix which had only further been destabilized due to the actions of the Yondaime Hokage in splitting it up. While she could understand his reasons for doing so, especially in light of the situation she still needed to put it back together. As such she had made Seto swear to keep the bodies preserved until she could arrive and receive the half sealed within Minato.

Aside from that she was also working on another project, this one not quite as complex as far as she was concerned. Her second task was creating a series of males to go alongside the three female Hell Hounds that Naruto currently possessed. She was honestly fascinated by the creatures and felt that she could watch such a species die out. It honestly wasn't hard as far as she was concerned do to the fact that she'd already done similar things before. Of course she had to delve into her reserves of Mass, which she was thankful she had procured during her time at the Royal Space Academy; the little creatures really did come in handy. The Mass themselves were creatures made of clusters of base matter and with the combination of the DNA of the three Hell Hounds, though with a bit of twisting in the genetic code, it made creating male versions of the Hounds fairly simple. While she had a multitude of other projects in the works as well those were the newest and the ones she felt held the most important at the moment.

While she had what many would consider to be several far more pressing projects in the works she was doing these as favors to Naruto. The blond boy had really made quite the impression on her as despite the obvious pain he'd been in throughout the process of having Kyubi extracted he hadn't cried out once. Not only that but he had allowed her to run her tests to her hearts content where even Tenchi for all of his power was hesitant to do so. After all her tests had been run Washu found that Naruto was simply remarkable in what she had discovered, but that was a subject for another time for now she had work to do.

* * *

Naruto took several deep calming breaths as he stood atop of the water in a relaxed yet guarded stance. Within his hands he held a bokken which he was using to go through several practiced motions. Sitting on the shore not far off Yosho watched his progress proudly. It had taken Tenchi quite a while longer to grasp the basics of the Juraian sword style, of course Tenchi for all his power did not have the warrior's instinct that Naruto possessed and made use of. At the same time Naruto lacked the innate control of power that Tenchi could boast which was something he was constantly working on. As this thought came to him Yosho chucked a small stone towards his young grandson and was pleased to see an energy shield appear to block it. Jurai's Royal Sword style didn't have any set and rigid forms and instead was about being free as the wind and flowing with the motions like water. The style was a balance of offense and defense and while Naruto was getting the hang of it he was still far from being called a proper swordsman.

It was a sharp turn from his original brawling style of combat but a welcome change as far as everyone was concerned. Naruto for his part was happy for the hands on training in that it not only allowed him to spend time with his grandfather but helped to further develop his skills. He had found that without Yosho-oh's key he was having a tougher time in summoning energy shields. Yosho had however informed him that this was due to the fact that before he had been drawing them from Yosho-oh but now was creating them himself which was actually quite harder. He had also discovered that without the Kyubi his chakra reserves had stopped growing and controlling the massive pool he had was beginning to get easier. This of course was after much work of bringing it back up.

When he had first awoken he had found that his control of his body had been shot to hell, yet as a trade off his speed, strength, agility, senses, healing and durability had all been increased. According to Washu his bones were actually denser than a normal person's, even from his planet. His sense of smell was phenomenal surpassing that of an Inuzuka's, his sight had become sharper allowing him to see at a greater distance than before, consequently becoming more sensitive as well and his hearing had increased to the point that if he concentrated he could even a whisper at the edge of a room. Of course this had all been discovered later after he'd had sufficient time to recover from the removal process. When he'd first woken up however he'd initially felt very weak and had been thankful no one had been able to take advantage of that.

His training with Kakashi was also finally beginning to show results. His taijutsu had finally reached the level that it was supposed to be at according to Kakashi at least. He and Sasuke had faced off in a taijutsu only spar and he'd managed to pull out a win just the previous day. While Sasuke swore up and down that it was a fluke Naruto could tell otherwise rather easily, his time struggling as a kid enabling him to see through the bullshit excuse. His chakra control was steadily improving thanks to chakra intensive exercises developed by Uzushio that his mother had hidden away and some rather abusive usage of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He had also learned a few of the water techniques Zabuza had given to him after his scroll had been returned by Kakashi and due to the fact that many of the techniques hadn't been known to Konoha had been compensated rather nicely as well. So far he had learned the C-ranked Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Violent Water Wave), the C-ranked Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Technique), and finally Zabuza's trademark the D-ranked Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Technique).

From his father's scrolls he'd learned a few techniques as well. The first was the C-ranked Futon: Reppusho (Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm) and the C-ranked Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough). He had also begun the final stage for learning the Rasengan which was proving to be quite difficult at the moment. He really wanted to start working on his fuinjutsu but the Sandaime had convinced him to wait until his godfather arrived who'd be able to oversee the process in the meantime however he was urged to begin work on calligraphy something that Airi was helping him with personally as his writing was apparently 'atrocious'.

Outside of that he had several lessons he was also learning that were nowhere near as fun. He was learning things such as royal etiquette which included politics, table manners, social manners, he had to relearn how to walk, talk, and act in order to fit in to his new social status. Yosho was working him on this, which thankfully he didn't have to suffer alone as Tenchi and Seina were also going through the same hellish training. Seto believed that with Yosho's training could turn them into 'proper gentlemen befitting their stations' and coming from the streets Naruto felt that him becoming a gentlemen would take quite a while. In truth the whole thing made Naruto uncomfortable and he'd much rather his rather simple life, however they had reasoned that these were lessons he'd need to learn anyway if he actually did become Hokage.

"Alright that's enough." Called Yosho breaking the blond from his thoughts.

"I have given you ample time; have you come to your decisions regarding the betrothal offers?" questioned the man.

"Well I'd still like to talk with Hinata before I decide anything on that. As for the Inuzuka I don't think it's a good idea, I don't really have a good relationship with her clans ninken and with their connection I think it would be unwise." Said Naruto after a moment.

"Naruto-kun." Called a voice catching both of their attention.

Turning towards it the duo were greeted to the sight of Sasami running up to them from the house. They were currently within the Senju Estate which had to be cleaned up quite a bit from its decades of disuse. Unfortunately the house his father kept secluded away had been destroyed during the Kyubi attack and never rebuilt. The estate however was actually quite huge easily managing to fit all of the people currently occupying it. The place was hidden within a dense forest and thus surrounded by trees on all sides. The main house of the estate which they were using actually contained 13 bedrooms only 8 of which were currently in use. As he was in fact the grandson of the Nidaime Hokage it had been in his rights to claim it, though he actually preferred his new apartment where his parents had lived.

"Are you done training yet?" questioned Sasami as she arrived.

"Hai we were just finishing actually." Said Yosho as began walking away leaving the two to their own devices.

"I have something for you." Said Sasami as she held out a small item.

Taking it from her and inspecting it Naruto found that it was in all actuality a ring. It appeared to made entirely of wood which wouldn't surprise him at all considering just how much Juraian's used it. Slipping it on to the middle finger of his right hand he was surprised that it slid on perfectly.

"If you noticed Tenchi, Ayeka, and I all wear a ring just like that one. That ring when activated will cover you in a Juraian battle suit." Explained Sasami after seeing his questioning look.

As they walked Sasami regaled him with stories of her last five years ever since she and her sister had found themselves stranded on Earth. While she had told him a lot about Jurai and what he could expect there while he recovered he'd never really asked about Earth. However hearing in detail how the group had come together on Earth in the first place was actually entertaining especially the antics that Ryoko and Ayeka got into were especially hilarious. In all actuality it reminded him a lot of the squabbling from the Sasuke fan club during his academy days with all the bickering that they often still did. Their story time was put on hold however as both noticed a square rock sitting on the side of them causing Naruto to chuckle.

"Konohamaru you do know that rocks aren't perfect squares right?" questioned the blonde.

At his words the 'rock' exploded enshrouding the ground in smoke, an effect ruined by the coughing done by multiple parties. As the smoke cleared the two were greeted to the sight of the mighty Sarutobi Konohamaru on his hands and knees trying to clear his lungs of smoke. Along with him was a young girl who had orange hair tied up with red elastics, into two very large pigtails. She also has red oval markings on her cheeks giving the appearance of a permanent blush. She wore a red tank-top over a pink t-shirt layered at the bottom while her pants are grey and she finished it with the traditional ninja sandals. Along with her and Konohamaru was another boy with short brown hair and eyes framed by a pair of large lensed round glasses. He wore a pair of beige pants with a long sleeved blue sweater that was zipped up and formed a turtleneck and a drip of snot hanging from his nose. However what truly caught Naruto's attention was that all three kids wore a pair of green goggles similar to his old ones atop their heads.

"Udon, I think we used to much black powder?" Wheezed Konohamaru getting an agreement from the other boy.

"So Ko, do you plan on introducing your friends?" questioned Naruto after a moment.

"Right!" Exclaimed Konohamaru miraculously jumping up to his feet fully recovered.

"I am the 'Mighty' Sarutobi Konohamaru; future Hokage!" exclaimed the boy.

"I am Moegi; the prettiest girl in school!" said the orange haired girl just as energetically.

"I'm Udon; I like math." Said the last boy nowhere near as energetically.

"We are the Konohamaru Corps!" exclaimed the trio of chibi's as one and striking what they thought to be a dramatic pose.

"Whoa cool boss you got new goggles!" exclaimed Konohamaru dropping the pose.

True enough Naruto was wearing a new pair of goggles over his eyes. Unlike his original pair these were dark lensed black goggles custom made by Washu that were actually rather sleek instead of the bulky pair he'd worn as a student. Along with this he wore a pair of black pants and his black t-shirt with the orange swirl, though the sleeves had been cut off showing the muscles that had developed along his arms. Each of his forearms were covered by dull metal bracers and the cloth of his hitae-tae had been swapped to black, the metal itself newly polished and placed proudly upon his forehead and he wore a pair of black sandals.

"So what's up?" questioned the blond.

"You promised you'd play ninja with us." Said Moegi pouting cutely causing Naruto to flinch.

"A ninja playing ninja, I've never heard of anything so stupid." Said Sakura entering from the corner; obviously having just been rebuffed by Sasuke again.

"Have you completed the last task you were given?" questioned Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup all of us can make a leaf stick to our heads for a full ten minutes." Said Konohamaru proudly while Sakura's eyes went wide as she couldn't do that.

"Ne, boss is that your girlfriend?" questioned Moegi pointing to Sasami.

"Something like that my name is Sasami. It's nice meeting you." Said the blue haired girl with a smile.

"Cool boss! She's much cuter and nicer than that gorilla you used to like. I mean honestly sometimes I wonder if she's even a girl?" exclaimed Konohamaru.

Before anything else could be said however Sakura's temper much like a volcano erupted and with murder in her eyes the girl leapt. Not slow on the uptake at all Konohamaru dodged to the side letting her fly past him before taking off at a quick run with his two friends on his heels. Not one to be denied giving a beating Sakura stopped on a dime, turned, and shot after the group once more.

"Well I'll go stop her from doing something stupid and meet up with you after my team meeting okay." Said Naruto getting a smile and nod from Sasami before he dashed off as well.

Unlike the rest of them Naruto took to the rooftops and in no time at all he had caught up with the group. Unfortunately it wasn't quick enough as Konohamaru turned a corner and crashed into someone with such force that the guy staggered back while Konohamaru fell on his rear. Seeing this Sakura skidded to a halt while the person Konohamaru ran into recovered and ignoring the boy's apologies picked him up by his scarf and proceeded to hoist him up into the air. The boy himself wore a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He also wears a black hood with cat-like ears and his Suna hitae-tae on his forehead, the hood covering his hair completely.

"Damn it Kankuro he's just a kid just leave him and let's go." Said his companion.

His companion was a kunoichi, her dark green eyes dispassionate and bored and her blond hair pulled back and gathered into four separate ponytails. She wore an outfit which consists of a single light purple-colored, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, specifically on her right calf and her left thigh, she also wore her headband around her neck.

"Disgusting; picking on someone who can't fight back." Came a voice catching everyone's attention.

Turning towards it they were all greeted to the sight of a girl with short, spiky mint green hair with an orange clip that remarkably matched her eye color. She wore an outfit that consisted of a short sleeveless white midriff shirt with fishnet armor underneath, long white armlets, and fishnet shorts with a short white apron skirt over it. She wore her hitae-tae wrapped around the upper portion of her left arm, the metal showing the marking of Takigakure. She had dark skin though obvious from tan and her eyes were harsh holding an intense hatred and profound distaste for all around her.

"Perhaps you'd like to see what it feels like from the other side."

At the voice several eyes widened as Naruto appeared standing at the side of the one called Kankuro the bladed edge of one of his Ulaks tapping against the Suna-nin's leg dangerously close to the teens most beloved part of his anatomy. Kankuro gulped instantly understanding the non-verbalized threat and dropping Konohamaru who scrambled back away from the two allowing Naruto to put the blade down. As the blond made his appearance the reactions of all of them varied; while the chibi's were all looking at the scene in awe their eyes wide in wonder and admiration Sakura had gone wide eyed her teammate's appearance and demeanor reminding her of a time that she'd seen on their journey back from the land of Waves where he had massacred a group of bandits that had the misfortune of crossing him.

'_Fast_.' Thought the blond kunoichi from Suna her eyes narrowed as she moved away from the wall.

'_Who is this guy?_' thought Kankuro a nervous bead of sweat trickling down his face.

'_This feeling, who is this guy?_' thought the green haired Taki kunoichi with her own eyes narrowed.

"You in the tree! Keep this fool on a leash otherwise I'll have to show him what a real animal is like." Said the blond turning his head to his left.

Following Naruto's line of vision the group were greeted with the sight of two other individuals. The first was Sasuke who was also wide eyed slowly turning to face behind him for behind him standing upside down upon a tree limb was another Suna shinobi. Like Naruto this guy was a little on the short side yet possessed an aura of power along with a glare that had the other two Suna nin trembling. He has pale skin and short, spiky hair that is brick-red and has green eyes. He had no eyebrows however what he did possess were dark rings surrounding his eyes and the kanji for 'love' emblazoned on the left side of his forehead. He wore a black full body suit with t-shirt-like sleeves, ¾-length legs, and an open neck. Along with this he wore a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips, and a wide leather band system over the left shoulder and right side of his hip attached to this leather band, he carried a large gourd on his back with his hitae-tae secured to the band. In an instant he vanished in a whirl of sand only to reappear on the ground just in front of Naruto.

"Kankuro, you're an embarrassment to our village." Said the newcomer his voice showing his annoyance.

"G-gaara it's not my fault they…" started Kankuro before he was interrupted.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." Cut in Gaara emotionlessly.

"If he won't I certainly will. The less trash polluting this world the better as far as I'm concerned." Cut in the green haired Taki kunoichi reminding all of her presence.

From her position Sakura was trembling. While the three of them weren't saying much it reminded her of the time they'd first run into Zabuza as the presence of the three of them were steadily increasing as if they were sizing each other up. The three of them were like animals stalking each other to see who was going to be the first to become impatient before the others pounced. Within Naruto something stirred as the presence registered to him and Gaara was the only one capable of seeing the small growth of his incisors as the tension slowly mounted between the three.

"Come we're leaving." Said Gaara suddenly moving to turn his back to walk away.

"Wait, who are you two?" questioned Sasuke pointing out the two he was speaking up.

"I am Sabaku no Gaara." Said Gaara turning back to face the group.

"I am called Fuu." Stated the green haired girl as well.

"I am interested in your name as well." Stated Gaara.

"I am…"

"It doesn't matter who you are. I hold no interest in you." Said Gaara cutting the Uchiha off and staring at the blond leaf nin.

"Naruto." Said the blond evenly getting a nod before the trio of Suna nin left and the Taki nin disappeared.

* * *

Elsewhere Sarutobi Hiruzen sat within his chair with an impassive look upon his features ad he eyed the various jounin who all stood before him professionally. At the moment he was only waiting for the stragglers to arrive before he could get the meeting started. While he waited he reflected on the things that had been done within the last month since the arrival of the Masaki Clan. First and foremost he'd been forced to turn over the Senju clan properties and accounts to Naruto and had discovered that a substantial amount of the funds had been missing. He had managed to cover it by saying it had been used to fix damages suffered during the Kyubi attack and must not have been put back. In truth he didn't know what happened but was having the matter looked into by some of the best and his most trusted. Yosho had joined the council as the Senju representative as since he was Naruto's grandfather even maternal he had that right unless Tsunade returned to claim it. While they hadn't been able to contain all of the news concerning Naruto's new status they had controlled it merely allowing the fact that members of the Masaki Clan had come looking for Naruto who was himself a member by birth.

For many this news was an eye opener. Naruto to many of the villagers had been the Kyubi reborn simply for the fact that no one knew who his parents were and as such many had speculated that the Yondaime had simply transformed the Kyubi into that form. Now that he'd had a family appear searching for him it had forced many to actually stop and think about their actions concerning the blond over the last decade. He had also been trying his hardest to make this integration as smooth as possible given the current situation. Many of the members of the council were still scrambling and trying to figure out a way for them to come out on top in order to gain prestige; however all avenues were skillfully blocked by Yosho with an ease that was simply ridiculous. However at the same time many couldn't help but admit that what had already been put on the table was remarkable. Such thoughts however were for another time as he noticed the last of the stragglers come into the room.

"Now that everyone has arrived let us begin shall we." Said the legendary Professor bringing the meeting to order.

"I don't know how many of you remember so I'll come right out and say it. The Chuunin Exams will be hosted once more within our village starting tomorrow morning however there are some changes that I feel you all need to know. First and foremost nearly a month ago a large group known as the Masaki clan came to the village in search of one of their own; while they couldn't find her they did find her son, young Naruto and have since taken up residence within the village." Explained the Sandaime getting several wide eyes and causing many to break out in heated whispers.

"Also after much discussion I have decided to call a leaders summit which will take place next month, the day following the final matches. As such all of the village's have received invites to participate within the exam this time around. Because of the importance of this meeting we will now be going under war time alert." Continued the old man shocking nearly everyone in attendance.

"While I don't anticipate any problems at this moment I don't want to leave anything to chance. For right now only the minimum necessary will be going out on missions in a revolving manner, the rest of you will work on securing all borders and bolstering the defense of the village. Just so you understand the full seriousness and importance behind this meeting both Jiraiya and Tsunade will be returning to the village in order to attend." Explained Hiruzen.

"Now with that said let us begin the team nominations. We will begin with our newest additions our shinobi forces."

* * *

When Airi opened her grandson's door that morning what greeted her was the sight of the blond seated calmly and peacefully; cloth, oil, files, and other tools all out as he went about cleaning and sharpening his weapons for the day's usage. Already she could see the shuriken and kunai that had been completed lying atop a sheet at his feet as he was now working on his now favorite weapons being the Ulaks. She could also see spools of razor wire gathered together and though she didn't know it he had several stacks of explosive tags put away as well. While Funaho didn't like it Airi could not fault the boy for she herself had a certain fondness for her own weapon, a gun she'd had since her academy graduation and cleaned regularly and religiously.

"Is there something wrong?" questioned the woman as she sat just behind the blond yet not disturbing his work.

"There's something in the air. Something familiar yet foreign at the same time. These exams will be interesting."

As Naruto said this and looked at her Airi was surprised to find that the pupils within his eyes had turned to slits giving his eyes a more feral appearance. In the next instant he had turned away beginning the process of collecting his now dry weapons and securing them into their places in their holsters which were quickly secured to his legs. She watched in fascination as he walked the length of the room sealing away the spools of razor wire she had seen and several that had been cleverly hidden soon he began opening several hollow portion of the walls removing the items that had been stashed away by the rooms previous occupant. All too soon the two of them were walking the halls of the estate and into the kitchen the blond removing three large steaks and taking them outside tossing one to each of the three Hell Hounds he'd been given.

Leaving them to their own devices the blond made his way out of the compound stopping briefly to see Tenchi and Yosho who were renovating the shrine they'd found with Ayeka and Ryoko having one of their seemingly weekly arguments not too far away judging by the closeness of their voices. As Airi remained Naruto left leaving Tenchi to his troubles as the young teen continued on leaving the compound for the village proper. As he walked through the village he initiated a process he'd done for as long as he remembered, watching. Unknown to most this was something Naruto had done for the longest and the biggest reason that his pranks were always successful; it was also the reason why no one could actually find him if he did not want them to.

The center of the village as always was densely packed as everyone went about their day. As he had avoided the village streets choosing to stick to the rooftops the last month with his new appearance clothing wise and his slightly longer and better kept hair he may as well have been invisible. Using the early morning crowd itself for cover from the watchful eyes of the villagers he watched everyone and mentally took note of everyone and everything he saw. All too soon he found himself standing before the doors to the Academy with Sakura and Sasuke standing beside the doors. As he joined up with them the three of them traded looks before turning and entering the threshold of the Academy. Almost immediately they were hit with a barrage of sounds coming from up ahead which they soon identified to be coming from a large group of gennin that were trying to get by a pair of blocked off doors. Naruto rolled his eyes spotting the pair of chuunin known as Izumo and Kotetsu in what he considered as shoddy henge's judging this to be an unofficial part of the exams.

Turning to his two teammates he saw that they had apparently figured out the same thing and just as Sasuke arrogantly strode forward he grabbed him and Sakura directing them back outside. Once outside he ignored their protest and began walking up the wall an action the two followed though under protest in the Uchiha's case. Once they emerged from the window on the third floor they were greeted to the sight of Kakashi standing lazily next to the doors they were supposed to be going to. Upon spotting them the Copy Ninja snapped his ever present orange book closed and slid it into his supply pouch greeting them with one of his eye smiles.

"Well now not only did all of you show up but you saw through the first test as well good job." Said Kakashi giving both Sasuke and Sakura pause.

"What was the purpose of the first test anyway?" questioned Sakura in a way that it hid her surface thoughts.

"Well the purpose was perception, or rather the ability to see underneath the underneath. While anyone with a decent level of perception should have been able to tell that was the first floor you also needed to be able to see through the henge. While your abilities with the technique are decent I'm betting Naruto saw through it having taken it to the level that he has and was able to see that the two that blocked the door were in all actuality chuunin while the two of you most likely noticed the genjutsu on the door." Explained Kakashi

"What would have happened if all three of us hadn't shown up?" questioned Sasuke.

"I'd have barred you from entering. These exams operate on a team basis meaning you need an entire team to participate. However I also didn't want anyone forcing the others to attend and thus told all of you that you could choose whether or not you wished to attend thus forcing you to evaluate your own skills and determine whether or not you felt you should attend. With that said good luck from her on out; ja ne." said the scarecrow before he vanished in a plume of smoke.

Rolling his eyes and swearing to learn the Shunshin no Jutsu within the nearby future Naruto pushed the doors open allowing his team to walk through. Immediately they were the source of the rooms attention as all eyes focused on them as well as a substantial amount of killing intent. Collectively dismissing the minor killing intent that in no way compared to the terrifying effects of Zabuza's own the three gennin moved to relocate from in front of the door.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Before they could even move a blond blur had launched and attached itself to Sasuke revealing it to be one Yamanaka Ino. As she registered her rivals presence Sakura immediately went to contest it causing Naruto to sigh and shake his head. With the announcement of 'troublesome' he found himself turning and greeting the duo of Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji, who were Ino's teammates. Before they could do more than greet each other the loud cry of 'Yahoo' ripped through the air and they found one Inuzuka Kiba bounding towards them with a feral grin on his face followed by Hinata and Shino who trailed a small distance behind the energetic dog nin.

"So we're all here huh, even you crawled out of your hiding place Naruto." Commented Kiba as soon as he'd closed the distance with a smirk.

"Indeed your presence has been missing from the village as of late." Said Shino causing a couple of them to blink at hearing him actually speaking.

"So you must be the rookies everyone's been talking about." Came a new voice catching the attention of the entire group.

"And you would know this how?" questioned Ino with a raised eyebrow.

"Well for one most of you were overly loud ignoring the atmosphere and calling attention to yourselves."

As the new comer said this he motioned behind him causing the group to follow the direction and be hit with a rather substantial amount of killing intent which came from a group of Ame nin. Narrowing his own eyes at the display Naruto stepped forward and released a blast of his own killing intent, something he'd picked up on during his training. The effect was instant as an entire section of the room seemed to freeze up and break out into a cold sweat each of them shivering slightly before the blond seemingly satisfied cut it off abruptly and turned back to the group.

"I don't see the problem with that; those guys are weaklings." Said Naruto completely ignoring the looks the other rookies aside from his team were sending him.

"Anyway you never introduced yourself." Continued the blond after a moment more.

"Right my name is Yakushi Kabuto."

Before he could go any further however there was a massive blast of smoke which appeared at the front of the room catching everyone's attention. When the smoke cleared there were several new people standing in the front all of them uniformed in grey pants and button down shirt with Konoha hitae-tae's. At the head of the group was a large bear of a man who wore the same only on top of that he wore a long black trench coat and had two rather prominent scars adorning his face.

"Alright you brats my name is Morino Ibiki. I'm the proctor for this exam."

AN: That's it chapter's done. As I'm sure you noticed things didn't jump around as much as they did previously and that's because I actually go back and read what I post and some of the stuff gives me a headache with how much it jumps around from time to time. I'm going to go back to my original style some what and include those little details that in the end made the chapters seem longer than what they really were. Aside from that I really can't wait to wrap up this half of the story so I can get into space and try and write some space battles for a bit. Thanks for reading and please review; till next time LATER.


	11. Tribulations

Legacy of the Lighthawk

Chapter 11

AN: Hello all it's been a long time. Firstly I want to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter or sent messages asking about the update, I honestly had no idea it had been so long until I sat down to read it myself and saw the last update date. That said I'll try my best not to let that happen again with this or my other stories, but with so many and my interest pulled this way and that I can make no promises.

Now then I want to point something out right now. While in cannon the parents of the rookie nine aren't the same age for this fic I'm making them all roughly the same age to fit in with the brief history I gave surrounding Minato being the Nidaime's son, which I'll be going into more detail on soon I promise. I'll also be introducing new elements into the story within this and the next few chapters so look out for those. I'm contemplating a NarutoxAssassin's Creed story but I think that can wait until I'm not juggling so much at the moment. That said here is the long awaited eleventh chapter

Start Now:

The group of Gennin had been gathered in front of a large fenced off forest which was training ground 44 also known as the Forest of Death for the second exam. The first exam which had been a written exam had seen more than a few teams failed out of the exam. Unlike a regular written test the purpose of Ibiki's was to cheat and not get caught doing it. Unlike some of the people in the room Naruto hadn't had any subtle methods for cheating and as such had spent much of his time staring down the proctor. As it was he had only answered a few of the questions before banking on the tenth which was an all or nothing deal that he had obviously been right on. The new proctor Mitarashi Anko was not as intimidating as Ibiki had been but was in many ways just as scary for some if not more so.

Upon first glance and at a distance you most likely wouldn't get that feeling of her. She stood at 5'4", had black hair with a violet tint held in a short, yet fanned out ponytail and pupil-less light brown eyes. She wore a dark orange skirt over a mesh body suit along with a tan overcoat with a pair of shin guards and het leaf hitae-tae strapped to her forehead to complete the look. Just from looking at her you would not get a sense of intimidation from her especially with the rather easygoing and playful demeanor she projected. Naruto however wasn't fooled as he'd projected such a demeanor himself for years and as such could see the rage hidden within the depths of her eyes.

She led them to a large forested area surrounded by a fence that seemed to block off entrance. Already stationed were several chuunin that stood at attention as soon as she arrived hands clasped behind their backs and feet spread shoulders width apart. From the outside of the forest it didn't seem like much until a loud roar echoed across the place they occupied before being abruptly silenced within the next moment.

"Alright maggots welcome to the stage of the second test training area 44 also known as the forest of death." Said the woman.

"Heh 'Forest of Death' yeah right as if the hippie tree huggers could actually have such a place."

The words had come from an Iwa nin who snorted derisively only to seize up as quick as a flash a kunai had sailed by his face leaving a noticeable cut along his right cheek. In the next instant Anko had appeared behind him holding the weapon to the frozen gennin's neck.

"You know the ones like you are usually the first to die, spilling that deliciously red blood I like so much."

Soon enough she was confronting a Kusa-nin who had come at her and while he normally would have ignored the entire thing the look that the Kusa nin had sent in the direction of his team had put him on edge immediately. As soon as they locked eyes a familiar feeling hit him and he felt like he was on the road to Nami no Kuni all over again.

"Naruto-kun are you okay?" questioned a voice snapping him out of his trance.

Turning towards the voice he was greeted to the sight of Hinata looking at him in worry. Taking a breath he absently noted that his hands were shaking and quickly clenched them into fists a few times before offering her a small smile which she returned with a relieved one of her own.

"Hinata I want you to avoid the team from Suna with the redhead and the team that Kusa-nin is on." Said the blond after a moment.

"Alright listen up!" called Anko catching theirs and everyone else's attention.

"As I already stated this forest is the stage of the second exam. Your objective is to reach the tower located within its center carrying with you these two scrolls, one marked heaven, one marked earth you will have a total of 120 hours to reach the goal before this stage ends. Each team will be given one of the mentioned scrolls to carry before entrance and each of you will enter from a different gate surrounding the forest. Before that however each of you are required to sign this document which waives the Hidden leaf village from all responsibility should you die within the forest."

"Five days, troublesome." Moaned Shikamaru

Troublesome was definitely the way to describe the situation. Firstly they were throwing a bunch of people who wanted to be professional killers into a large forest where deaths were expected. They were making them fight for a pair of scrolls which meant half the teams in attendance would be eliminated as a guarantee. They would also have to deal with the creatures that called the place home as well. They were also expected to go in only with what they had on hand, and given the time limit people would start to get desperate towards the end. Yes the situation had troublesome stamped on it in large bold red letters.

* * *

While the gennin of the various villages were literally signing their lives away the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was occupied in conversation with Yosho, Airi and Minaho all four with a cup of tea. For nearly an hour they had been speaking of the couple that had bonded together and as it happened brought clan Masaki down to the small planet the held Hi no Kuni. In her hands Airi held the photo album from the wedding of the Yondaime and her daughter. It was one of the few to actually exist as the wedding had been a very small affair. They had married at the Fire Temple with Hiruzen, Jiraiya and Tsunade to act as witnesses along with the Fire Daimyo. Hatake Kakashi was also there as the sole remaining student of the Yondaime as had the three students that Kushina had taken and the Yondaime's specially selected bodyguards.

Yosho however held the betrothal contract from the Hyuga clan in hand and was reading over it with focus. Hinata had been the only one that Naruto had accepted but as of yet there was still no signature. That proved to be a good thing as the more he read through it the more he found that whoever had written it had tried to sneak in several stipulations that would ensure that the Hyuga got the better deal out of the union. Rolling the piece of parchment up the eldest prince of Jurai shook his head in disappointment; this was just one of the reasons that he hated politics.

"Tell me why it was so imperative that Naruto's heritage be hidden, even on his mother's side." Said Yosho causing the Sandaime to seemingly age even further before their eyes.

"Well as you know over his lifetime as a shinobi Minato acquired many enemies outside of the village especially during the Third Shinobi War. However what most don't know is that he had several enemies inside of the village as well." Stated Hiruzen his eyes now tired looking instead of alert.

"When I handed over my title as Hokage to him Minato immediately set about restructuring the village. Rumor has it that several members of the council were being encouraged to step down from their positions. He was about to restructure the training of the shinobi on the roster and those within the academy. He had even set a meeting with the Daimyo about the banning and removal of the Hyuga clans cursed seal.

As for Kushina she had also made her fair share of enemies. She was the heiress of the Uzumaki clan and had inherited the title of Daimyo herself which she never claimed. More than that Uzu no Kuni is very rich in minerals and many have been trying to gain possession of those minerals. However she was also a force of nature on the battlefield with her abilities with water style ninjutsu, kenjutsu and her mastery of the Uzumaki clan fuinjutsu she was just as big a threat as Minato was. When she was younger the Sandaime Raikage tried to have her kidnapped and nearly succeeded if not for Minato picking up on the clues she'd been leaving behind which everyone else overlooked. In response to that I had him killed, the current Raikage happens to be the man's son and part of the team sent to capture her."

The Sandaime paused here seemingly not noticing the reaction of the woman's family as he set about loading and lighting his pipe. Taking a long drag he held the smoke in before releasing slowly with his body relaxing on the exhale. Fiddling around in his drawer he pulled out a picture before handing it over to Airi. Looking the picture over she could see that the picture had captured three women in the center of which was her daughter in her form of Kushina appearing to be around her early twenties. Beside her to the right was the woman she recognized as the memory they'd watched who she believed was called Mikoto though younger. Finally to her left was another woman this one with long dark blue hair and fair skin with hair falling towards her back and bangs framing her face her eyes were that of the Byakugan only with a shade of lavender thrown into the mix.

"Her best friends where Uchiha Mikoto and Hyuga Hanare. The Hyuga and Uchiha clans had a very heated rivalry and disdain for each other but Kushina managed to bring those two together and the clans themselves began to move towards peace especially with Hanare and Mikoto at the heads as matriarchs. If that wasn't enough the three of them were quite involved with the goings on of the village and had managed to get on the bad side of the merchants guild along with several other powerful players. Several of those people had been smuggling drugs into the village and they took it very personally especially when the woman who trained them died of an overdose. They exposed several major links in the chain but before they could get the head the Kyubi struck and Kushina died.

Jiraiya was here immediately afterwards as Naruto's godfather and is the major reason that the council couldn't kill him before I was able to retake the position of Hokage. I stayed for three years before suddenly a rumor popped up in Iwa that the Yondaime Hokage had an heir living in Konoha. When murmurs of an Uzumaki heir started fluttering around shortly afterwards we I determined that there had to be a leak and told the council he was a simple orphan and that I gave him the Uzumaki name to honor Kushina who was very active with the orphanage. The rumors stopped flying within a week but not before Jiraiya had killed three teams of Iwa shinobi and two from Kumo.

I expected Jiraiya would come straight back but he instead sent word that he had heard mutterings of the whereabouts of his old teammate who was revealed to have been a sociopath a year earlier and fled the village. The man had joined a group of runaway shinobi all of them with the strength of high jounin or even that of a Kage. Understandably shaken he set about creating his own spy network and discovered that the group was after the bijuu for an unknown purpose, which meant eventually they'd come after Naruto. For the last few years we've been trying but come up with surprisingly little information regarding them." Finished the Sandaime.

* * *

Naruto stood in one of the higher branches of a tree within the forest of death. Already the forest was living up to his name as barely fifteen minutes in a horrified scream had echoed across the forest before being abruptly cut off. After turning in the forms each team was presented with a scroll though hidden from view by a tent from the other teams. His team had been presented with a heaven scroll which he had pocketed much to Sasuke's ire. At the moment though he was scowling as he had thought that the higher vantage point would allow him to get a better look at his surroundings however the canopy of the forest made that impossible. While the trees seemed more spread out on the ground the higher up you went the more compact the place seemed to become. In order to actually see anything he'd have to go to one of the lower branches where the chances of him being seen were much higher.

That really didn't bother him so much as seeing as how he and his team had split up he had summoned his hellhounds some time ago. When they had determined that they would have to split up for a bit he hadn't hesitated in leaping away knowing that one of them would have to stay with Sakura. Don't get him wrong Sakura was starting to grow on him and had been since they had left Wave, she had stopped screeching so much and was even beginning to take her training seriously as well. She still wasn't much but she was putting up the effort which was enough for him to give her a chance especially since she wasn't kissing his ass due to learning of his heritage.

Sasuke on the other hand he was liking less and less as time progressed. So the decision to leave Sakura with him was more of a bit of petty revenge as he knew that the Uchiha still couldn't stand the pink haired girl. His thoughts on the matter was cut off as a flash of red shot across his vision deep growling had him looking up to see a large bear running by that had caught the attention of the hounds. Shaking his head he motioned them to go and the three took off quickly chasing down the bear as one of them leaped atop its back forcing it to the ground. The three girls wasted no time in tearing into it causing the beast to howl in pain and anger. Finally one of them managed to snag down the beasts neck before twisting savagely forcing the bears wail to immediately come to a halt. Descending down from the branches he came upon the sight of a young girl leaned against a tree and panting heavily.

She had red hair and wore a pair of black pants and a beige shirt underneath which he could see the top of a mesh shirt. She wore a pair of glasses that did nothing to distract from her red eyes and a Kusa hitae-tae. Unknown to the blond while the girl was once taking in deep breaths in an effort to calm her panic stricken heart she was now using every ounce of her will power to keep herself grounded. The literal sea of chakra she could feel just waiting to be unleashed by the blond was staggering and the feelings behind it were nearly causing her to swoon.

"Hey you alright?" questioned the blond

"F-fine." Answered the girl with Naruto ignoring the stutter.

"Your team?" questioned Naruto only for silence to be his answer.

"I'll give you an escort to the gates, the proctors should let you out once you explain the situation."

That said and before she could speak her breath was stolen away as his chakra surged briefly and he summoned three shadow clones. The feeling of such a huge amount of chakra hitting her so closely and so suddenly had her knees weakening though she managed to steady herself rather quickly.

"Kameko." Called the blond after a quick whistle.

Immediately one of the hounds heads perked up from the mauling of the dead bear and she trotted over to him for which he proceeded to clean off her muzzle with a rag he pulled from his pocket. Looking at the hound the girl wondered just where the blond had found such a thing or if they were some type of never before seen summon as she'd never seen creatures like those before. With his back to the girl she missed the fact that he lifted up his goggles in order to look the hound in the eyes. No words were spoken but the hound tilted its head to the side as Naruto pat it on the side.

"Be a good girl and take her to the gates okay."

The entire time he spoke he did not look away from the hounds eyes however the hound obviously understood as it licked him along the cheek before bounding over to the girl. The redhead tensed as the hound neared only for it to lye down in an obvious invitation. Slowly climbing so that she straddled the creatures back she turned just in time to see the blond turn to leap off.

"Wait, who are you?" questioned the girl.

"The names Naruto." With that he leapt away leaving a blushing girl behind at least before the hound suddenly leapt to its feet and took off in which case she could only hold on for dear life.

* * *

While this unknowingly life altering meeting was taking place Hinata moved at a brisk pace through the forest her Byakugan eyes blazing. She had surprised her team by immediately taking charge as soon as they had entered the gates. Byakugan eyes active she had led them to a team of fellow leaf nin whom they had managed to lead into a trap and negotiate the needed scroll out of. At this point she was now leading them directly to the tower going far around the Suna nin Naruto had warned her of and dodging any group of Kumo nin that even entered her range of vision. As it was the only thing keeping Kiba from complaining about the pace and the fact that they were heading directly to the tower was the pace that they were setting. Despite their time as a team until that point it wasn't until now that they realized that if they weren't carefully watching her Hinata could disappear in an instant. This fact was even further enforced by her small stature and the fact that she tended to not try to bring attention to herself as shown by the way she dressed and usually carried herself.

Already he had lost track of her completely at least twice and if not for Shino would have been left wondering where she had disappeared to. In an instant Hinata had leapt down a level and the two males were quick to copy the action going wide eyed at the huge snake that literally flew through the spots they'd have occupied. On the lower level Hinata was given the chance to show a whole new range of movement to her teammates as she dodged around branches and tree trunks before leaping upwards once more the two males following just barely avoiding the startled leaf nin that they came across. However never ones to take opportunities for granted Kiba and Shino reacted quickly grabbing a rather thick branch and using it to combine their momentum into a turnaround nailing two of them in the face with a pair of swing kicks that sent them flying from the branches and slamming into a tree trunk each leaving consciousness at one point or another. Hinata likewise had quickly reacted and doubled back nailing the other in the back with a quick series of jyuken strikes along the spine that quickly rendered them paralyzed, if only temporary.

"Heh score."

At the call both Shino and Hinata turned to see Kiba rifling through their downed preys supplies and holding up a scroll which he quickly tossed to Shino who pocketed it. Grabbing a spool of ninja wire from the downed nins supplies the members of team eight quickly went about tying them to the tree trunks before taking off once more only now with an extra scroll. Upon reaching regular seeing distance of the tower the trio leapt from the trees and hauled ass due to the fact that there was no cover surrounding the tower so to make it inside was a dead sprint. It would be because of this that the tale would spread how team eight shattered the record for completion of the second exam by competing it within 45 minutes.

* * *

Within the confines of her lab Washu held up the gem that held the power and consciousness of the Kyuubi finally stabilized. It had taken her some time to stabilize the gem as she had needed the other half of the Kyuubi's power to do so, which required drawing out what Minato had sealed within his own body. Finally however the process was completed and the now finished gem dwarfed Ryoko's appearing about the size of a snow globe. She had learned much from it especially in the possibilities that existed with fuinjutsu, to think that on what was perhaps the most underdeveloped planet in the galaxy they had figured out a way to manipulate dimensions was incredible. Of course they weren't up to her level in the ability with it but the fact that they could create small pocket dimensions put them ahead of even Jurai and the researchers of the Galaxy Academy in the field of study. Sitting the gem down she connected with the interface of her computer and watched as it flew through the information available at a quick pace.

"So what do you think?" questioned the diminutive genius. The response was the gem actually glowing brightly for a moment before dying down.

"Yes, I thought you would like it. It's still only half done but its coming along nicely." Said Washu

As she said this her hands began flying over the keyboard as she navigated her way through the system all the while the gem pulsing with red light.

"Oh Tsunami your little treeships aren't going to be nothing compared to these." Muttered Washu with a smirk.

If anything the sphere glowed even brighter at her words, after all there was nothing like sibling rivalries.

* * *

Elsewhere in the village Sasami suddenly sneezed just barely managing to turn away from the food in front of her. Beside her Ayeka paused in her own eating only to be waved off by her younger sister. At the moment they were at Ichiraku's a place Sasami had been frequenting quite often lately. Out of all of the members of the Masaki clan Sasami spent the most time in the village proper as she was often spending time with Naruto. The first time she had come with Naruto and he had introduced her to Ayame and her father Teuchi they had hit it off great and she quickly realized the true reason for why Naruto wanted to spend so much time at the stand.

When she had first been revealed to be one of Naruto's relatives to them, which Naruto had done with no hesitation, they had welcomed her with open arms. She and Ayame had become fast friends and once revealed that she did the cooking for her household began swapping recipes almost eagerly. She was happy she had decided to bring her own sister along this time as the mood of the place had even broken through Ayeka's training and forced her into laughter at some of the stories Ayame shared about Naruto. However Ayame proved to be a well of information on all things Naruto and not just his time as Konoha's 'prankster prince'; but she knew a side of the blond that even the Sandaime hardly knew of. When she had finally revealed to Ayame that she and Naruto were to marry Ayame had told her point blank that Naruto's heart was fragile and she would have to be very careful with him.

"So what's your home like?" questioned Ayame as she leaned on the counter this being a slow point of the day.

"Jurai is a lot like Konoha actually in that it is surrounded by forests, though of course there are differences. The people are of course very proud and our military is second to none." Stated Ayeka slowly trying to keep some things out of the conversation.

"The last few years however we've been living away from Jurai, I suppose in what you would call our clan's second home. Things are a lot simpler there as there is far less violence or pressure for much. You don't get out of school legally until age eighteen there and even then there is a lot of pressure to continue even further in order to get a decent job." Finished the girl.

"Naruto-kun would hate that. He always says he became a ninja to get out of school." Said Ayame with a laugh.

* * *

Back with the subject of their conversation Naruto frowned as he listened to Sakura inform him of what had happened with she and Sasuke while he had been on his own. Sasuke himself was incapable of speaking as he'd been ridden unconscious by some freaky grass nin. According to Sakura they had been attacked not even five minutes after he had left them, the attack had come out of nowhere as they were struck by a strong blast of wind that worked in separating them. When they recovered and met back up the grass nin immediately attack focusing exclusively on Sasuke and taunting him the entire time while he was at it. Finally Sasuke had revealed his Sharingan and just when it looked he would come out fine the grass nin struck fast and strong pinning him to a tree and proceeded to bite him on the neck where he screamed until he passed out. Looking at his neck he could almost immediately tell that it was a seal of some sort. While he'd been doing much reading up on fuinjutsu he wasn't up to the point where he could recognize what a seal was just by looking at it. Tucking him into the burrow of a tree he turned to face Sakura who was staring down at the boy.

"Well camp out here as long as we can. As we are now going through the forest would be a bad idea with him down. If push comes to shove though I'll summon the girls again and we'll haul ass to the tower." Said Naruto.

"We can't go to the tower without both scrolls." Reminded Sakura busying herself by placing a rag on the Uchiha's head.

"You just worry about the teme, I'll worry about the scroll." Said Naruto getting a nod from the pink haired kunoichi.

With that discussion over with Naruto sat himself down near the back of the tree. He would allow the day to go by and then strike at night when everyone else was trying to settle in. That was good for him as it allowed him time to go over his bag of tricks. His taijutsu and his blades would probably work to his best advantage especially when used in conjunction with the Kirigakure no jutsu. With the boost in his senses he would most likely be able to tell where any and all opponents would be within the mist, and since he couldn't use it quite like Zabuza at this point if he added his Kage Bunshin into the equation it would make things a lot harder on his opposition. Of course he always had the other technique from the forbidden scroll he'd learned that he had been keeping in reserve. The problem with it was that it still wasted a butt load of energy and as such with his control he'd only be able to use it maybe three times before he was spent for the day and with his reserves that said a lot.

He also had another move that he was in the process of developing. In truth it had been inspired by the move he picked up from the scroll but it was coming along slowly. Due to his poor control he didn't want to risk doing it himself and as such had his shadow clones doing it in his spare time. Unfortunately that wasn't what it used to be and without the Kyuubi to refill his reserves like he used to he didn't use as many shadow clones as he once did. That however was something he now had to live with and as such it had forced him to learn to fight smarter, not just harder. He had rededicated himself to his stealth training which had helped him plenty during his time pranking as had his trap making skills. Even more without Yosho-oh's key it took him too much concentration to form energy shields at this point in time. So going in like he originally would have was a no go, everything would have to be done sneakily as opposed to an all-out assault.

For the next few days they could stay in the burrow of the tree while Sasuke recovered with Naruto being the only one to venture out unless Sakura felt the urge to go handle her personal matters. Finally darkness arrived and Naruto could wait no longer and that night headed out of the burrow of the tree. Moving swiftly up the truck he reached one of the mid-level branches and stood stock still for but a moment. Lowering his goggles so that they dangled around his neck his now glowing silver eyes took in all that surrounded him.

* * *

From her position within the forest Fu sat at the very top of a tree her orange eyes staring up at the stars. Her so called teammates were down on the ground away from her, which she had no problem with. In truth she hated her teammates, not only that she hated the village and its inhabitants and the only reason she was a kunoichi was because it let her leave. She had been hated by everyone for as long as she remembered simply because the village leader decided to use her to seal one of the bijuu into, this one being the Nanabi no Kabutomushi. Because of this she was considered an outcast by the villagers especially due to the fact that she was an orphan, just unlucky enough for the village leader to have picked her out of a bunch at random.

She didn't care though she had determined that humans were trash. They spoke one thing, but their actions told of an entirely different story, they were barbarians in every sense of the word. Her escape from reality was the stars they fascinated her for as long as she could remember. Was there life out there, was there a more evolved civilized culture or was it just as barbaric as that of the humans? Her dream was to one day grow powerful enough so that she could fly out and investigate the stars for herself and even if she found nothing she would never return to this world. Chomei, her bijuu had told her that it could be possible that once she gained full control of her power she could perhaps make the trip. Chomei had never tried having no need to, after all Chomei was a top tier bijuu there weren't many things more powerful and before he was sealed away had never considered itself threatened in any conceivable way by humans.

At the moment none of these things were truly on her mind instead it was the two boys she had met before the exam. Unlike other girls she really didn't think about boys in a manner of sexual attraction, as far as she was concerned the only reason for such a thing was in the interest of procreation which she held no interest in at all. No her interest in them came from the feelings they had invoked in her a sense of familiarity. Chomei had told her it was because they were like her, the redhead Gaara was practically flooding with Shukaku's power while the blond Naruto held only a faint feeling of Kyuubi's power suggesting he didn't much use it, unlike Gaara. She could understand that as she herself didn't have much control of Chomei's power though she freely used the abilities it had granted her as a host.

She had never put much thought in the others. She knew of course that Kumo, Iwa, Suna, and Kiri had all held Bijuu but there was never any indication of the Kyuubi ever being sealed. She wondered were their lives like her own, or were they treated better than she was? Did they have better control of the bijuu chakra than she did, or were they in the same boat as far as control was concerned? In all honesty she was tempted to just run off and search them out but was forcing herself to wait. They would all meet up soon enough and her questions would be answered even more she would finally have worthy opponents to test her skills against, yes they would do battle and it would be glorious.

* * *

Elsewhere Neju sat with a contemplative frown on her face. She had been awoken from a rather vivid dream with her forehead drenched in sweat. As the former high priestess of Melmas she was a very high level telepath. Her dreams more often than not were actually visions of probable futures to come and she was very good at manipulating those probabilities so that the one in her favor one out in the end. Despite the fact that she looked no more than eleven years old she was over 2000 and as such had lived long enough to get very good at it. That was what had led to her current life as a galaxy detective and one of Seina's wives.

"Penny for your thoughts dear." Came a voice startling her.

Looking up she was greeted to the sight of Lady Seto, the only one of Jurai's council members to have stayed on Furya. She understood the motive well, while Yosho was good he had learned from Seto and she had not taught him all of her tricks. When it came to politics the 'Devil princess of Jurai' as she was called had no equal. She took a moment to reflect on whether or not she wished to share what she saw with the other woman. At this moment she was in a position to one day become a Queen of Jurai and rule over all of the empire, however she had already been leader of her own planet and realized the type of work that would entail. More than that she rather quickly remembered the purpose for their coming to the planet in the first place and thus a decision was made.

"I had a vision." Stated Neju quietly causing Seto to raise an eyebrow.

"For someone of my level visions are not unheard of though they are rare. They represent probable, most likely futures to come." Explained Neju.

"And what is it you saw?" questioned Seto.

"Naruto's death."

* * *

While this meeting was taking place another was happening this time involving the Sandaime, Kakashi and Jiraiya. The white haired man had arrived in the village no more than an hour previous to the current time and for the first bit he and his sensei had played catch-up while they waited for Kakashi to arrive. Now that he had arrived the atmosphere was completely different as the three men were all business at this point in time as they caught Jiraiya up with everything that had happened with Naruto that the Sandaime hadn't felt comfortable writing down.

"So we were right in our hypothesis of what caused the Kyuubi's release." Said Jiraiya after learning of how the fox was released.

"Indeed, and the usage of space/time ninjutsu makes the situation more troublesome." Said Hiruzen releasing a cloud of smoke from his mouth.

"How did he take it?" questioned Jiraiya.

"The same way his mother did when she found out about the attack on Uzushio." Answered the old man causing the Sannin to wince.

"He's started reading up on fuinjutsu but he's left the actual application alone. From what I'm told his handwriting is apparently atrocious so they're working with him to fix it." Stated Kakashi joining the conversation.

"So what all can he do?" questioned Jiraiya.

"I've gotten him decent with sensei's taijutsu style which is mostly what we work on though he's incorporated a pair of Saber Claws into the style." Stated Kakashi causing the man to whistle.

"Those would be brutally effective." Stated Jiraiya.

"I've also tested him for his elemental affinity, he has both wind and water so strong the paper actually shredded itself into four pieces before each piece became soaked in water. So far he's learned three water techniques which were part of a scroll Zabuza gave him and two wind techniques all offensive in nature. Along with that he can use the Kage Bunshin technique and create chakra shields to protect himself." explained Kakashi.

"Sounds like quite the skill set." Said Jiraiya his mind already flying to figure out a way to work with that.

"So what is Kushina's family like?" questioned the Sannin.

"The Masaki clan is larger than expected from the time she was among them. There are actually more females than males it seems mostly through marriage. For the most part they are all pretty much normal people who actually pass as civilians for the most part. The only one who doesn't really pull it off is the Emperor's eldest daughter Aeka but she spends the majority of her time within the Senju compound." Explained Hiruzen.

"Man I'd have paid to see the council's reaction to him being of the Senju clan." Said Jiraiya with a laugh.

"It was interesting one minute they were giving him the evil eye and all of a sudden they were demanding that he stays in Konoha, even going so far as to call him 'a valuable member of our village." Stated Kakashi causing Jiraiya to snort.

"Naruto didn't buy it for an instant." Said Hiruzen shaking his head.

The conversation was suddenly stopped as a series of knocks echoed on the door before Seto made her way in followed by Neju. Raising an eyebrow at their entrance and resisting the urge to call the woman out on the action all three men felt their heartbeats skip at her words.

"We have a problem."

* * *

It was morning when they made their way into the clearing that housed team seven for the past days. From her position within the burrow Sakura looked them over; in the center was someone who had bandages covering most of his face, leaving only his left eye uncovered. He also wore a large poncho with long sleeves, a snake patterned scarf around his neck, a bundle of straw protruding from the back of his scarf, and a large metal thing on his right arm and hitae-tae on his forehead. To his left was a girl with very long black hair, almost reaching down to the ground, tied by a violet ribbon right near the end, and black eyes. She wore a pale green vest somehow similar to a flak jacket, and snake patterned pants and scarf, and hitae-tae on the forehead. Finally to the right was another boy with spiky, dark hair and dark eyes. He wore a beige shirt with two black stripes and three prints of the kanji for death down the front. Like his teammates he also wore the snake patterned scarf around his neck; while he also wore his village symbol on his forehead he didn't wear just a simple cloth like the others but also wore a happuri beneath the cloth. However the thing that caught her attention the most was they village symbol as it was one she had never seen before, that of a musical note.

She remained perfectly still continuing to feign sleep even as they approached, suddenly without warning a barrage of shuriken were launched down at them from the treetops. The one on the right simply raised his hand upwards and the shuriken were sent sailing back in the direction they had come from. Suddenly a large log came flying at them only for the one in the center to step forward and swing a punch causing the log to actually shatter. In the next instant the kunoichi motioned them to stop and pulsed her chakra dispelling the genjutsu that had put up around them before Sakura was even able to make proper use of it and revealing her perched up in a low branch of the tree.

"Nice try little girl but you'll have to do much better than that." Said the one on the left.

"What do you want?" questioned Sakura with narrowed eyes.

"Uchiha Sasuke, wake him up." Stated the one in the middle.

"Why?" questioned the girl

"So we can kill him." said the girl with a smirk.

"I have a better idea." Came a new voice surprising them and causing them to look up and see Naruto standing behind them at the edge of the clearing his goggles up and covering his eyes.

"Leave now and you can leave here alive." Said the blond.

"Ha! As if something like that will happen! We're not here for some stupid exam, our only purpose here is the Uchiha's death." Said the boy on the right.

"Then you leave me no choice." Said the blond.

Suddenly Sakura's eyes widened as mist began to make its way into the clearing from all sides. Very quickly all of them found themselves unable to see anything aside from themselves even those right next to them were only just barely visible.

"You have eight choices. The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, brain, kidney, and heart; now tell me which vital organ do you want to get struck at?"

"Heh, yeah right I'll blow this shit right out of here!" exclaimed the one on the left.

"No you won't." whispered a voice in his ear causing his eye to widen.

Faster than he could react metal pierced flesh and no movement was made to muffle his cry of shock and pain before it was abruptly cut off.

"Shit, Zaku!"

The exclamations of his teammates were all they were able to get out before they were suddenly launched away from each other with the feeling as if they'd got struck by a sledgehammer. Both managed to recover quickly enough to land on their feet but the attack had been more than enough to separate and isolate them from one another. Suddenly the male spun around and threw out a right punch hearing a sound coming from behind him and was satisfied to see the body crumple to the ground.

"You think some mist is really going to help you. I'm from Oto fool, all I need to is sound." Said the boy snidely.

"So that's the name of your village, good to know."

With that the blond before him burst into smoke much to his shock. Before he could recover from his shock a form pounced on top of him slamming him into the ground. Meanwhile the lone kunoichi was circling her position with three senbon needles held in each hand between the cracks of her balled fists. For several long minutes Naruto just watched as she turned every which way trying to anticipate an attack. He knew from experience that the longer you made someone wait the jumpier they became when using this technique. Just to add a little something extra for the situation he allowed the mist to begin dissipating and after but a few moments she went wide eyed at the crumpled forms of her teammates. Suddenly she was launched forward and he quickly dropped to the ground as she went flying right over his head before hitting the ground and rolling about three feet before coming to a stop. Sure enough as he looked up he could see Sakura standing where the Oto kunoichi had once been head down and fist still clenched and extended in the spot her head had once been. Naruto shivered just slightly as phantom pain throbbed on the back of his head but quickly shook it off and stood to his feet.

Already the mist was nearly completely gone and he quickly pulled the chakra from his eyes allowing their regular blue hue to make its return before standing back to his feet. As he settled his goggles back over his eyes he paused as the memories of a dispelled clone came to him. Apparently the clone had the same idea he'd had and had lessened the density of the mist after seeing Sakura walking in from its position and she had quickly managed to zero in on the Oto kunoichi. Still her training must have been going better than he thought if she had managed to channel that monstrous strength of hers consciously like she just did.

"What the hell was that!" exclaimed a familiar voice before either member of team seven could say a word.

Turning both saw Ino come storming out of the bushes. Behind her came Choji and Shikamaru both shaking their heads at the antics of their teammate as she and Sakura quickly got into one of their standoffs with the three boys all tuning them out with practiced ease. The revelry was cut short however as all of them felt a chakra surge shoot up out of nowhere. Even Naruto who had trouble sensing the chakra of others through his own took notice of it. Turning towards it they were all shocked with the sight of Sasuke standing hunched over and surrounded by a deep purple chakra that looked akin to a fire with two rings circling him similar to a cyclone in appearance. As he stood they could all see a strange glowing orange marking spreading across the exposed surfaces of his body until finally the markings had spread fully and solidified into black flame-like markings.

"S-sasuke-kun what…" started Sakura before trailing of in her shock.

"Don't worry, I feel fine." Said Sasuke as he looked up a pair of red eyes with two tomoe-like markings within staring out at them before he looked down and clenched his fist.

"In fact I feel better, more powerful than ever." Said the Uchiha before suddenly his eyes seemed to gain a sharp focus onto Naruto.

"Let's see you keep up now dobe."

With that the Uchiha vanished before appearing directly behind the blond sending a back fist at his head, taken by surprise by the sheer speed just displayed the blond was struck full force and sent flying before managing to flip so that he landed on his feet though he skid nearly another three feet. Already the Uchiha was going through a chain of seals and surprised everyone as he breathed out multiple small but fast fireballs. Eyes narrowed in anger Naruto summoned an energy shield which blocked not only the fireballs but the shuriken the Uchiha had hidden within them. As Sasuke appeared behind him once again Naruto was ready ducking the blow aimed at the back of his head and sending out a mule kick with both legs connecting solidly and sending the Uchiha skidding back due to the strength behind it.

As they eyed each other after the exchange Naruto slid into a stance that none of them had seen before from him. He had turned his left side facing Sasuke his left leg leading and bent while his right hand was cocked back at his hip while his left was out front his fingers curled like claws. Then quick as a whip Naruto shot forward crossing the distance in a flash moving much faster than anyone there had thought him capable of, Sasuke's Sharingan was the only thing allowing him to track the movement, however just because you could see something doesn't mean you could stop it a lesson he learned as Naruto's right fist was soon embedded within his gut folding him over with all the breath leaving him and his jaw literally hanging open. His mouth was snapped closed as a left uppercut nailed him in the jaw before to the eyes of those watching Naruto's arms became blurs.

For Sasuke however he could see every punch the blond fired off coming yet could do nothing as his body was put through the single worst physical beating he'd ever gotten with just eleven punches to the chest before a final punch launched him back first into a tree. As Naruto moved to launch himself forward again he was stopped from going after the Uchiha again by a hand placing itself on his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that it was Choji that was holding him back though not him who spoke up

"Leave him you still need him for the exam. Let them deal with the troublesome bastard at the tower."

The voice was Shikamaru's only more serious than Naruto had ever heard him being. For a moment he actually considered ignoring him and beating the Uchiha six ways to Sunday but instead gritted his teeth and took the advice as he watched the strange markings on the Uchiha recede before turning his back on him and walking with Choji and Shikamaru. In the distance a pair of Byakugan eyes closed and deactivated as their owner turned away from the scene. He had been doing a routine scan of his surroundings when he had come upon the scene and had watched out of simple curiosity. Because of this he now knew that both the blond and the Uchiha could be some to be wary of should they face off even if they were still fated to lose.

* * *

At the same time outside of the forest a gathering was taking place within the only shinobi run bar and grill within the village. It was a place where only leaf shinobi or former leaf shinobi of chuunin rank or higher could enter or even know of its existence. It was a place where the ninja were free to let down their emotional masks and be themselves and not the warriors they presented themselves as. At the moment however its occupants all sat by in surprise as a number of people entered one by one, who hardly even associated with each other. One by one they arrived and were led into the same room which served as a private VIP room.

The first to arrive had come in at the same time and were the famed trio of Yamanaka Inoichi, Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Chouza, the most famous incarnation of the legendary Ino-Shika-Cho formation to date. The next to arrive was Aburame Shibi whose appearance was noticed due to the fact that he never came there except for on the rare occasion. Hyuga Hiashi was the next to enter and like the previous entry catching all attention due to the rarity of the occasion. Finally came Inuzuka Tsume and with her throwing everyone for a loop was Ichiraku Teuchi, they greeted each other warmly with none of the usual indifference from when most of them usually met up. Even Hiashi's emotionless mask had left his features as one by one they all greeted each other with the door sealing itself after opening on last time for the waiter to deliver four bottles of sake. In the history of the Hidden Leaf there had never been a generation like them, they were legends within the village even if they were not held to the level of The Sannin they were still legends nonetheless.

"It's been a long time since we gathered like this." Said Chouza with a nostalgic smile on his face.

"Yea because it's usually not a good thing." Said Tsume.

After she spoke everyone took a moment of respectful silence. The last time they had all gathered had been when they mourned the deaths of Uchiha Mikoto and Fugaku after learning of the Uchiha Massacre four years previous. It had affected them all especially Shibi and Hiashi who had been Fugaku's teammates as gennin. Before that it had been to mourn Hiashi's wife Hitome who had died during shortly after the birth of her second child the year before. Before that it had been to mourn Minato and Kushina who had died during what they had thought to be a random attack by the Kyuubi and not a sacrificial murder by a madman as they now all knew it to be.

"Teuchi how long have you known about Naruto?" questioned Inoichi with a serious frown as he turned to regard his old friend.

It was no wonder why he asked him the question. Not only was Naruto a religiously regular customer at the man's ramen stand but Teuchi had alongside Tsume been Minato's teammate. For a moment all was silent as all eyes turned to the man awaiting his answer. Teuchi however was silent instead pouring himself a bit of sake and taking a quick drink before turning to return Inoichi's stare.

"I've known since the first time he came into the stand when he was four." Said the man seriously causing several eyes to widened.

"And you couldn't tell us!" demanded Hiashi in a very rare show of anger from him.

"I would have if some of you would follow up when given invitations." Stated Teuchi causing several eyes to narrow before widening in understanding before most of the heads bowed in shame.

"Still even I never thought he was this important." Mused Teuchi taking another drink.

"A prince, of an entire fucking planet." Said Inoichi tossing one straight back in a single go.

"Understatement, I went through that packet all that information made my head hurt." Said Hiashi as he himself took a drink.

"To think we're so far behind, and yet so far ahead." Said Tsume shaking her head.

"It seems a simple concept. From my understanding our planet is much more hazardous than others it is no surprise that we have developed differently." Stated Shibi.

"They may beat us technologically but as far as physically that is a completely different matter." Said Chouza

"True enough and that's not even counting what we can do factoring in chakra." Said Teuchi.

"Still can't help but wonder what they want with us to invite us into space so readily." Stated Shikaku with a frown.

"Well I want you brats to step up your training, honestly." Came a new voice surprising everyone causing Chouza to spew out his sake while Inoichi choked in surprise before they turned to see Jiraiya leaning against a wall.

"Damn it how the hell do you still do that old man!" exclaimed Tsume pointing at the man causing Jiraiya to smirk which only irritated her more before he suddenly turned serious.

"As of right now it doesn't matter what the Juraian's want with us. We've just discovered an invasion set to take place on the day of the third exam." Stated Jiraiya causing them all to freeze

"The leaders of this attack are the new village called Otogakure, they are led by Orochimaru." Stated Jiraiya.

"They shouldn't be much trouble even with Orochimaru leading them sensei." Said Tsume.

"Suna it seems will be aiding them." Said Jiraiya causing her to slam her head on the table.

"The leaders' summit that sensei is calling won't take place until the next day and the word hasn't even been sent out yet." Said Jiraiya.

"So we've got a month to prepare." Said Shikaku his mind already flying through strategies.

"Whatever you plan know that me, the old man and Tsunade will be taking care of Orochimaru." Said Jiraiya.

"I figured she'd come back once she found out about Naruto." Said Teuchi.

"Apparently the elders told her he died but we'll handle that another day." Said Jiraiya.

"With all of the leaders here for the exam we'll have to utterly crush this invasion." Said Hiashi contemplatively.

"Which is why I have missions for all of you, listen up." Said Jiraiya with authority.

* * *

By the time the evening was rolling around teams seven and ten were entering the tower. Though team ten hadn't collected the needed scroll for them to pass Naruto had no problem supplying them with what they needed. Upon entering the tower and reading the small plaque upon a nearby wall Shikamaru had immediately come to the conclusion that they were supposed to open the scrolls a decision which Sakura almost immediately vetoed. Naruto however ignored her having learned previously to trust Shikamaru's brain and his word. The scrolls once opened quickly revealed themselves to be summoning scrolls which had summoned Iruka and another chuunin that Naruto, Shikamaru and Choji recognized as Kiba's sister Hana. After their congratulations were given and they explained the true meaning of the plaque Shikamaru surprised everyone by speaking up about Sasuke's attack Naruto, the strange markings that had covered him and the weird chakra he had given off. Choji and surprisingly Ino quickly backed his word and a stony expression covered Iruka's face while a feral growl escaped from Hana's throat. The Uchiha himself scowled as he had made Sakura swear to keep her mouth shut but hadn't counted on team ten to back the blond in any way, especially Ino.

The two chuunin shared a look and while Hana led them to a place they could get some food Iruka himself vanished in a whirl of leaves stating he would be reporting the matter to both Kakashi and the Hokage personally. Rather quickly they found themselves in a mess hall where several others were already gathered, looking around they couldl see Hinata and the rest of team eight, the boy Gaara from Suna along with his teammates and the girl Fuu from Taki with who they guessed were her teammates. Aside from them there was also a team from Kumo and even one from Iwa as well. All together that made seven teams to have made it into the tower and this was already the fourth day. As they entered Naruto ignored the glares and weak killing intent coming from the Iwa nin and instead moved over to the table occupied by team eight.

Twenty minutes later Kakashi entered the room his book absent and a hard look within his visible eye. The man didn't so much walk as he strode up to the table giving Naruto and Sakura acknowledging nods before grabbing Sasuke none too gently by the shoulder and vanishing in a Shunshin. When informed on the reasons behind his actions the scowls that had crossed Kiba and Hinata's face had spoken more than enough as did the loud buzzing emanating from Shino's direction. If they'd have known better they'd have cherished the moment for they had no idea of the trouble that was to come.

AN: Well that's it chapters over. I know there wasn't a lot of action but I honestly didn't want to give too much away so I'm waiting until the next chapter to show what everyone is made of. Really though most of my thoughts are focused on the prelims and the chapter containing the break, as I'll be revealing some tricks and introducing a new character, a well known character from another anime that I'm pretty sure no one will be able to guess before next chapter. I want to give a hint but that would spoil it so I'm just gonna stop before I say something. Thanks for reading and please review. Till next time, LATER


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